Strictly Ballroom
by slime frog
Summary: Pre-EC. As a celebration of the defeat of the B'wa Kell, a ball will be held for all fairies who were involved. However, this provides a perfect opportunity for enemies of the LEP to strike... COMPLETE
1. Bringer of bad news

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Holly Short, Commander Root, Foaly, Artemis Fowl, or any other character from the Artemis Fowl books. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! *falls to her knees sobbing* however, I do own Carmen Geum, Basil Kobalde and the All-Seeing-Eye, and of course, I own my plot *sigh* which isn't much I know, but it's better than nothing!!!  
  
**A/N:** the story takes place about a month or two after the end of the Arctic Incident. Enjoy!!!  


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Op booth, LEP central:

"Can you see the problem yet?" asked Foaly, bending down and peering through the mass of cables where Holly was crouched.

"Nope, sorry pony-boy, I can't see a thing." Holly pushed a bunch of fibre-optics away from her face, dust motes clinging to her auburn hair. "Remind me why I'm doing this again, would you centaur?"

Foaly chuckled. "Because you're the only officer stupid enough to crawl in that wired up death trap and the only one small enough to fit. Oh, and because you love me of course."

"Of course." said Holly's voice sarcastically. "Look, I really can't see anything," Her tone was serious this time. "There's not much point me staying here any longer, so I'm coming out."

She then proceeded to untangle herself from the mass of wires, and crawl out from underneath the computer. Not exactly a dignified method of exit, but what else could she do?

Holly stood up, rubbing her stiff neck. "You sure that was where the problem was Foaly?" she asked, brushing the dust off her jump-suit. "Are you sure it wasn't somewhere else?"

The centaur looked puzzled and shook his head. "I don't think so," He replied slowly. "Unless…" Suddenly, a look of understanding lit his face. "Unless it was in the – " 

Holly tuned out. Techno-babble from Foaly was hard enough to understand when you were completely awake, let alone at 10 o'clock at night when you'd already been up for seventeen hours. It had been a very long day, and the thing Holly wanted most in the world at that moment was her bed. She was exhausted.

Holly sat down in a swivel chair and lent her head on the worktop. How easy it would be just to slip off into the beautiful land of sleep… She felt herself drifting away when a sharp knock on the door of the booth jerked her head up off her arms. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Holly rose to open the door.

"Captain Short," said Commander Root, leaning past her to look into the room. "Thought I might find you here. Is Foaly around? There's something I need to tell the two of you about."

"Yeah, he's here," said Holly wearily, stepping aside to let Root into the room. She followed him in and took a seat again, fighting to keep her eyelids from drooping. The commander looked at her sideways, concerned, as Foaly came to sit with them.

"What time did you get in this morning, Holly?" Holly rubbed her head, trying to force her brain to think.

"Um, I think it was around six, sir." She answered vaguely.

"Am or Pm?"

Holly yawned. "Am." She replied simply. She didn't have the strength for much more

Root was visibly taken aback. "You've been here for sixteen hours?" Holly nodded mutely. "Why the hell didn't you go home hours ago?" 

"I was just going to work a double shift, " she explained "Then Foaly asked me to do something and I got caught up. I was going to go home after that."

"And have about 4 hours sleep before coming in again? You can't work if you're dead on your feet!"

Holly didn't have the strength to argue, so she just nodded. Root gave her a piercing look before continuing with the business at hand.

"Anyway, the reason I'm here is because there's something I need to tell the two of you." Root paused, looking slightly embarrassed. "I don't know if either of you have heard, but as a 'treat' and reward for defeating the B'wa Kell, all council members and LEP officers that were involved will be invited to a party – a bit like a ball or a formal dance." Holly and Foaly exchanged looks, both knowing how the other felt about such occasions. Root grimaced. Obviously he shared their feelings. However, he wasn't finished with then yet.

"Now, because the two of you both played vital roles in the defeat of the B'wa Kell, you have been invited, and are expected to come." The commander emphasised the last three words to make his point clear. They didn't have a choice.

Holly, now wide-awake, started to protest. "But Comman-"

"_No_." said Root forcefully. "No buts – from either of you. I expect you both to be there, looking your best, and on your best behaviour. Especially you Holly. You may have been restored to your original status, but your position is far from secure. Do you understand?"

Holly and Foaly nodded sullenly. They understood alright.

"Now then," said Root, calming down slightly. "The ball will be held at the manor house of a friend of council member Lope. It will be an evening thing, but the time and date have yet to be decided. There is also," he fixed them with a very stern look. "A very strict dress code. Foaly, that means black suit, bow tie," Foaly couldn't stifle a groan. "And for you," He rounded on Holly, looking as stern as ever. "It means an evening dress."

Holly stared at him in horror. He had to be kidding. Her? In an evening dress? She opened her mouth to protest, but Root held up a hand to silence her. 

"I'm sorry Short, but you have to wear it! If you don't have anything suitable," he continued, addressing them both now. "Then I suggest that you find someone who does and borrow theirs. I want you both to look your best on that night, so I suggest you try hard to find someone who will lend you something smart. Got it? Now, before I go, do you have any questions?"

Foaly raised his hand, a look of mock sheepishness on his face. "Um, Commander? If my Mummy writes me a note excusing me, do I still have to go?"

Root ignored him, and got up to leave. "Ok, that was all, I'll see the two of you tomorrow. Oh, and go home, Captain Short, and don't come in again until you've had a proper nights sleep. You can start your shift then. I can't have my officers falling asleep on the job."

"Yessir. Sorry sir." She stifled a yawn. She had just remembered how tired she was.

*****   
  
Well???? What do you think? Huh, huh, huh? Oooh, my first ever fan fic. Oooh, I feel all warm inside. Oooooh. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! I will love you forever if you review, 'cos I really wanna know what you thought! Any suggestions would be appreciated too. But be gentle. I'm new, remember? ^_~ I'll write chapter 2 soon, and get it posted for ya, but I might be a bit faster if you review, hint, hint. All right, I'll shut up now, and go do summit else. Bye!!!


	2. Motives

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DISCLAIMER: blah, blah, blah, you know the drill…I own nothing but my plot and my characters – Carmen Geum, Basil Kobalde, and the All-Seeing-Eye. Right, can we get on with the story yet?

*****

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ELSEWHERE…

"Is everything in place?" asked the All-Seeing-Eye irritably, glaring down at the goblin army assembled below. "Because if everything is not absolutely perfect tomorrow night, heads will roll." The generals gulped. "Your heads. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said one of the goblin generals quickly, licking his eyeballs nervously, while shifting from scaly foot to scaly foot. "The LEP don't suspect a thing. As soon as you give the order we will strike and annihilate them once and for all. We'll show them what happens when you mess with the B'wa Kell!" He allowed himself a little swagger as he thought this might help display his confidence to do the job. He thought it would impress the boss. Wrong. It just succeeded to annoy him further.

"Fool!" he snapped, slitted eyes bearing down on the unfortunate individual. "Never underestimate your opponent. You do that and the battles already lost before it's begun. Do I make myself clear?"

The goblin nodded furiously, dumb with terror. It was incredible how frightening just the plasma image of the All-Seeing-Eye was. The goblin dreaded the day he would have to meet the Eye in person. All of them did. He had control over minds. He knew what they were thinking. It was a pretty accurate description really, considering it had been thought of by a goblin. Very impressive really. But what else would they call him? No one alive knew his real name. There were a few who had come close, but they had mysteriously 'disappeared'. Even goblins had the cranial capacity to acknowledge the warning. You'd have to have the brain of a cheese and tomato sandwich to miss it. All anyone knew about the Eye was that he had lots of cash, used it to back the B'wa Kell and was probably the most dangerous underworld criminal in all of Haven. One thing that made him dangerous was that most fairies had never even heard of him, let alone knew anything about him, including the LEP. So no one ever even had a glimmer of a suspicion when he was about to strike with deadly force. The Eye liked it this way and took steps to ensure that the number of fairies who knew about him was kept to a minimum. He didn't believe in mind wipes – they were too unreliable. So he took other steps. Sometimes violent steps. He preferred dead to forgetful. Let's just say you wouldn't want to meet him down a dark alley at night. Or anywhere for that matter.

The petrified goblin was still nodding furiously. The Eye wondered fleetingly if it would make him feel any better to watch and see how long it took the pathetic creature's brain to shut down for the stress put upon it, but decided he couldn't be bothered. He had more important things to do than watch a worthless minion put itself into a coma.

The All-Seeing-Eye cut the connection and turned away from the screen in disgust. He was literally counting the hours until he could rid himself of these repulsive creatures. And if it hadn't been for the LEP, he wouldn't have had to even make contact with these vile excuses for life forms. If the LEP hadn't destroyed the B'wa Kell his life would be a lot better right now. And goblin free.

The Eye ground his teeth in frustration. If it hadn't been for the LEP, he wouldn't have lost so much power and money. He'd put more millions into the B'wa Kell than he could count. It had been a perfectly simple arrangement – I give you cash, you do whatever I say. Easy. He had had the whole organisation wrapped round his little finger. And he didn't have to personally deal with a single goblin. They never even saw or spoke to each other. Bliss.

But then, when everything was going just great, that idiot Cudgeon had had to step in and mess everything up. Then the LEP arrived, and it all just went down the drain quicker than you could say 'Atlantean stink balloons'. The B'wa Kell had been destroyed, and the Eye had had to disappear for 11 days. Not the longest time, admittedly, but it could have been near catastrophic for his 'empire'. A lot could happen in 264 hours. In addition to the loss of the B'wa Kell, he'd lost about a fifth of what he had in the smuggling market, a tenth in the power and water supplies, three seventeenths in the transport industries, and much more besides. Criminal corruption was a fast game, and if you dropped out for a second it was very hard to get back in again. Near impossible in fact.

However, the Eye hadn't lost everything. Far from it. He still had a terrifying amount of power, and he planned to bring it up to par with what it had been a few months ago as soon as possible. But even that wasn't enough for him. He wanted more…that's where the LEP came in.

The All-Seeing-Eye wanted the LEP for two main reasons – revenge, and power. He had his foot in almost every aspect of life in Haven – from weapons production to supermarket chains. Just a few small areas were missing. And one big one. The biggest. The LEP.

Occasionally, the Eye found himself daydreaming about the incredible power that he would possess if he had the LEP under his control. It would be more power than any fairy had had since the time of the monarchy. And he was the elf to get it. When he wasn't daydreaming about the power, he was plotting and scheming, trying to find a way to get it. And now he had. It was the perfect opportunity – all the most important fairies in the LEP, all in one room together. Like lambs to the slaughter. Although death wasn't quite what he had in mind. It was more like slavery really. He could force them to do whatever he wanted – all it took was a quick trip inside their heads, and voilá! The LEP would be his slaves. Perfect.

The Eye allowed himself a small chuckle, before leaving his 'office' and heading home. He had a lot to do for tomorrow night – stocking a custom-made dinner jacket with deadly weaponry was a complicated procedure, and took time and concentration. Even if one enjoyed it.

*****

Well, there you go, that was it, second chapter finally up!! Sorry it took so long, but you know how it is...you get writers block and you just can't think of how the story's gonna go!!! It's terrible!!! Anyway, I hope you liked it, this one was quite fun to write, oh and also...PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER IF YOU DO!!! PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEE!!!! Hey and if you wanna email me (flyingpurpletreefrog@hotmail.com), that's fine too, cos I'd love to hear from you, and nobody ever emails me anyway, so please do feel free. I'm really likely to email you back, so please do. Next chapter up as soon as pos.

Byesies!!!

slime xxxx


	3. Transformation

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DISCLAIMER: Blah, blah, blah, you know the drill...I own nothing but my plot, Carmen Geum, Basil Kobalde, and the All-Seeing-Eye, and, drum-roll please... Eazy Grow!!! Yes I own it!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! *Readers wonder nervously why the hell she is getting so excited about this crap hair product that she just made up* ahahaha!! Little do you know! *Smiles mysteriously and evilly* 

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TO MY REVIEWERS: Thank you sooooooooo much to **Carlie**, **Kitsune-chan**, **avalon**, **cacter**, **Mei Leng**, **Da-xia** **Nariko, Hermione Weasley **and** foaly**, I love you all!!!!! 

Anyway, just to clear the subject raised in the review by Hermione Weasley...the All-Seeing-Eye is not Arty, I'm afraid. Arty can be just slightly nice at times, but this one ain't. He's 'orrible. As far as I know, Artemis isn't gonna come into this story - it's a fairy thing really.

*Artemis leans over slime's shoulder to read what she's written*

Artemis: WHAT!!! And why, may I ask, am I not in the story?

slime: *sticks tongue out at Arty and pinches him on the nose* 'cos your not a fairy, genius. Now buzz off and go terrorise someone else!!!! Kitty and I know what you've been up to!! *glares at Arty and fingers her hair cautiously to make sure it's not being evil*

Artemis: *winces* you know about that...darn! That was my secret plan to take over the world, hair, by tree, by pasta!!! (A/N: alright, ok, that's a little joke that only Kitty Rainbow and I will understand...we think Arty has control over the hair, the trees, pasta and AOL - they are all evil!!)

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A/N: Carmen's surname, 'Geum' is a garden plant that has papery red/pinky petals. She's an elf, so she has to have a plant in her name, you see. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone cares. Can we get on with the story already?

*****

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POLICE PLAZA:

Foaly was fiddling with some gadget or other, when he saw a familiar figure walk past the open door of the operations booth. Seeing who it was, he called out to her.

"Hey, Holly? What are you doing in so early? Doesn't your shift start in an hour and a half?"

Holly stopped walking, and stepped into the room. 

"Morning Nosy. I decided to work an earlier shift so that I'd have plenty of time to get ready for tonight. If I'd worked my regular time slot, I'd barely have an hour and a half to do everything. This way I get six."

Foaly raised an eyebrow. "You need that long to get ready? I mean, I know you're female and all, but I didn't think it took that long! Where are you going to get a dress anyway? It's not like you'd have anything suitable."

Holly pretended to be offended by this remark. "Oh?" she asked, 'surprised'. "And what makes you think that I don't have just as many dresses as any other girl? How do you know that I don't have a secret store of glittery jewellery, makeup, and all things girlie?"

Foaly snorted. "Whatever. So, where are you gonna find a dress?"

Holly smirked. "I asked Carmen if I could borrow one of hers. She said yes, and offered to do my hair and makeup as well, as I am supposedly, and I quote, 'Completely incapable of telling mascara from eye-shadow'! Honestly! I have no idea _where_ she got that from."

Foaly hid a smile under his hairy hand. "Sure, whatever. I'll see you tonight. Oh, and send Carmen my love. It's been years since I saw her...really must arrange something sometime..." He trailed off, and Holly, seeing what time it was, headed for the door. 

"Later, centaur. Can't wait to see you in an evening suit!" She winked at him, before heading to the East Bank of Haven, where Carmen lived.

*****

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OUTSIDE THE HOUSE OF CARMEN GEUM:

Holly stood on Carmen's doorstep, and knocked on her door, trying to remember the last time they'd seen each other. Too long ago, that was for sure. It was just that they'd both been so busy lately, what with Carmen having to run her salon all on her own, and Holly always having something to do for the LEP, and they had just never gotten round to it. Maybe this ball business had advantages after all... Holly quickly stopped thinking along that track - if she kept going the way she was, she might start to actually see this thing in a good light - and that was definitely something she didn't want to do, though why that was, she couldn't quite fathom.

The door was opened by a dark-haired elf, with dark brown eyes, and a decidedly Latino look about her. Her mother had been from somewhere underneath Spain, and her father from somewhere underneath Latin America, so she had inherited the dark hair and eyes from them. Her clothes also reflected this - she was wearing a striped wraparound skirt with a simple, red, non-sleeved top. Her black hair flowed down her back, and she had pinned a fabric flower into it - Carmen liked her fabric flowers. She was quite pretty, and almost exactly the same age as Holly. They had gone to school together, and had been best friends for a very long time. Too long, as Carmen sometimes pointed out. They had been through a lot together, though not all of it had been fun. But they had both been trying very hard over the years to forget that, and now they no longer concerned themselves with the past. It was all over, end of story. There was no need to feel that pain again.

Holly and Carmen grinned at each other for a moment, before hugging each other. It really had been far too long. Holly followed Carmen inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Do you want a drink, Holl?" asked Carmen as they sat down in her bedroom, where they had sat so many times before. "I've got water, nettle smoothies – I know you like them – fruit juice – "

Holly shook her head, smiling. "I'm fine, thanks. So, how is the salon going? Last time you told me, everything was just starting to kick off. Is everything going well? You haven't suddenly gone bust in the last month have you?"

Carmen laughed. "Nah, I'm still in business, and everything is going really well! We're getting loads of customers, and I'm hoping that soon, we should get a bit of financial security. Then we won't have to keep getting loans all the time, which will be nice. I'm really sick of having to suck up to accountant-type people all the time to try and convince them to give me enough money to stay afloat. It will be really great to become independent at last." A dreamy look came over her face, and she said in a wistful tone, "Oh, the joys of not having to be nice to stuck-up know-it-alls who think that you are below them, and not having to eat baked beans on toast every single day, just to save money. I swear Holly; I will kill myself if I ever see one more baked bean! They're evil! Honestly! But anyway, how's everything going with you at the LEP? Is Beetroot still on your case about being female and around?"

Holly grinned. "Not so much anymore. Ever since Fowl kidnapped me, he more-or-less stayed off my back. When we were in the Arctic, he was even slightly nice to me at times." She snorted. "That didn't exactly last very long though. He's back in his 'Anti-Holly-Short' mode...though he's not as bad as he used to be. I'm not quite his favourite person, but at least he 'likes' me a bit more than he used to, if you could call it that. I think he respects me a bit too, even if it is a very little bit." She sighed. "Apart from that, everything's going pretty good. I'm nearly out of the LEP's bad books, so soon I won't have to be on my best behaviour all the time. At least I don't have Chix Verbil to deal with much anymore!"

~

Holly and Carmen talked for over an hour, before they suddenly remembered what Holly had come for.

Carmen looked at her moonometer, and, seeing the time, jumped up from the bed. "D'Arvit! We've only got three hours left!" she exclaimed, pulling Holly to her feet. "There's just so much to do!"

First, Holly tried on some of Carmen's dresses, until they found one that fit, looked good, and that Holly was prepared to wear. She refused to be seen in something short, black, and revealing, or pink and sparkling, or too tight, or too lose and flowing, or...the list just went on and on. When they had finally chosen a dress, Carmen whisked Holly away to the bathroom, where, she was told, Carmen would 'sort out her hair'.

"Oh come on, Car!" protested Holly. "My hair's fine! Root isn't expecting a miracle, you know. I'm sure if we just shove some sparkles in there, it'll look fine!"

Carmen gave her a look. "When I'm done with you, 'Captain', the dear commander will think it _is_ a miracle. Now hold still."

Holly decided not to argue. Carmen would have her way, even if she had to knock her out, do her hair when she was unconscious, and lug her all 10 klicks to the ball. There was no point in resisting.

To start with, Carmen washed Holly's hair, and Holly protested loudly that she could wash her own hair, thank you very much, until Carmen swiped her with a towel, and told her to shut up. Holly growled unintelligible things at her, but did as she was told.

Next, Carmen took out a bottle of 'Eazy Grow' and began to apply it to Holly's short, auburn tresses. Holly glanced suspiciously at the fluorescent green liquid, wondering what evil chemicals Carmen was exposing her to. Carmen caught the look, and reassured her that it was all natural, and not at all poisonous. That didn't tell Holly what it was going to do to her though, and she was horrified to learn the answer.

"Don't worry Holly! It will just make your hair grow very, very quickly, so that you can have long hair for tonight!" Carmen explained, hoping to put a stop to Holly's tirade of complaints.

This, however, startled Holly even more. "What?" She shrieked, jerking away from Carmen's hold. "You can't be serious! I don't want long hair; it will just get in the way! It's a pain to look after, and I won't have time to cut it, and-"

Carmen put her hand over Holly's mouth so that she wouldn't be interrupted. "Calm down! It only lasts 24 hours, and after that, you can just wash it out! Trust me; it will look really good, and you won't have to do any of the looking after, because I'll do it all. All you have to do is keep still and stop arguing! You can be a right pain sometimes, do you know that?"

Carmen pinched her nose playfully, before getting back to work. After she was done with the Eazy Grow, she wrapped Holly's head in a towel, and took her back to the bedroom, so that she could do her makeup. Holly couldn't help just the smallest protest at this, and Carmen threatened that she would gag her and tie her to a chair soon. Holly then pointed out that she would be unable to do her makeup if she had a sock in her mouth, and earned herself another swipe. Irritating Carmen was fun.

"I'm not going to put much on, Holly, so stop worrying about it! I'm just going to tidy you up a little bit, that's all. I'm not going to give you bright red lips, heavily accented eyes and pink cheeks, you know. Just trust me."

After what felt like forever, Carmen was finally finished. Holly put the dress on, removed the towel from her head, and tried desperately to avoid looking into the mirror. She wasn't ready to see herself yet. Carmen sat her on a chair, and put the finishing touches to her unnaturally long locks.

When Carmen was done, Holly could no longer avoid the inevitable. She moaned half-heartedly, as Carmen steered her to the mirror, took a deep breath, and looked.

She had to admit that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. The girl in the mirror actually looked very good, but Holly could hardly believe it was herself. No-one will recognise me like this at first, she thought to herself. And when they did, they'd probably have a heart attack from the shock of it.

She was wearing a purple dress that came to a few centimetres above her ankles, with a loose, silky skirt, and a small slit on the either side. The dress had no sleeves, and was held up by thin purple straps. The upper-part of the dress had patterns of leaves and vines embroidered in a mauve thread, with small pale pink and yellow flowers dotted around. It fit Holly snugly at the top, and loosened out slightly at the waist. She was wearing a pair of strap-sandals, with small heals, that she had also borrowed from Carmen.

Her hair, which would now have reached well past her shoulders, was piled on top of her head, and Carmen had fixed one of her trademark fabric flowers into it. This one looked like a purple rhododendron flower, and went well with the colour of her hair, as did the rest of the outfit.

There wasn't much difference in her face, apart from the fact it looked more perfect and unblemished by life's cares than usual. It was the hair and the dress that made her look really different.

Holly stared at herself in amazement. She could hardly believe the transformation. In just two and half-hours, Carmen had changed her into this; this _girl_. It was the only way she could of think to describe it. The elf in the mirror was not the tomboy she was used to seeing everyday.

Carmen grinned, satisfied with her work. Before Holly realised what she was doing, she snatched her camera from the bed, and took a photo of her in all her glory. She wanted photographic proof that she had succeeded in getting Holly in a dress.

Holly glared at her, recovering from her shock. "What was that for?" she asked suspiciously, unsettled by Carmen's gleeful appearance.

Carmen winked at her. "Oh, come on Holly! You didn't really think I'd let this opportunity to eternally record _you_ in a dress, with makeup, and your hair done slip away, did you? This is a once in-a-life-time experience, and I don't want to forget it!"

Holly sighed. She should have known. However, she didn't have time to stand around chatting all evening, because she had somewhere to be, even if she'd rather she didn't. Holly said goodbye to Carmen, thanked her for helping out, and left the house. Using Haven's public transport system, she headed to the Northeast bank of the underground metropolis, where the event was being held. As she went, she tried not to think about how much she hated these formal occasions. Honestly, she really wasn't any good at these things. But thoughts like that weren't going to get the ball cancelled. It will be fine, she told herself. All you have to do is go in there, talk to people, be nice and polite, then leave at the end, and it will all be over. You can go home and forget about it. Easy!

Unfortunately, the fates had decreed that it wasn't going to happen like that. Or, to be more precise, a certain criminal known only as 'The All-Seeing-Eye' had decreed that it wasn't going to happen like that. And after this was all over, Holly would wish that it had.

*****

Dun, dun, DUUUNNNN!!!! Hope you liked my first attempt at a cliffy! Sorry I took so long to update, but I just kept having to stop and start again, and I kept losing the thread of it, if you know what I mean. Well, I managed to make it a bit longer this time, but I'm sorry if it was boring. I hope it wasn't, 'cos I personally like this chapter, and it was quite fun to write.

Well, you know what I'm gonna ask for now, and that is REVIEWS!!!!! PLEASE REVIEW!! I WILL BE SOOOOOOOOOO GRATEFUL!!! You've been very good so far, I've had 25 reviews! *wriggles happily* even though 3 were from myself ('What a sad freak' I hear you cry. Well, as a matter of fact, I am...) and I will love you forever if you do!!! You know I will!!!

But anyway, until next time, my friends...KEEP THE INSANITY ALIVE!!

slime xxx


	4. Someone she used to know

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DISCLAIMER: *shudders* HATE this thing - it reminds me that none of them exist, but still, I suppose I gotta do it...I own nothing but my plot, Carmen Geum, Basil Kobalde (yes, he WILL be in it this time) and the All-Seeing-Eye. *shudder* enough all ready!!!

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TO MY REVIWERS: thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!! To everyone who reviewed! I'm, eternally grateful!!!! Thanks to: **Princess Karita, Lilyana, palace freak, reviewer, Blue yeti, Eleida, avalon, salem cone, animefanatic07, Artemis Fowl the second, Hols da mad one, weido, Lli**, and **Hermione** **Weasely**. Love ya all. Oh, and Holly, YOU BAD, BAD GIRL!!!! YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO READ THIS!!!!!!!! BAAAD GIRL!!! And what was the point of nagging me about updates when I was in the same room, sitting barely 2m away form you, writing it? ^_~

On with the story!!!! *William Tell Overture starts to play in the background* dadada, dadada, dada da da da, dadada,dadada, dada da dun da...sorry about that... in a strange mood today...

*****

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NEAR THE MANOR HOUSE WHERE THE BALL WAS BEING HELD, NORTHEAST BANK OF HAVEN:

Holly and Foaly had agreed to meet a couple of blocks away from where the ball was being held. Holly arrived first, and stood outside a hat shop – this was a very upper-class neighbourhood – shifting nervously from foot to foot. When Foaly finally rounded the corner, she couldn't help but laugh. She knew it was cruel, but the centaur in a smart evening suit was just too much not to. However, by the time he reached her, she had herself under control.

"Hello Foaly. I was starting to think you'd done a runner on me!" she said, winking cheekily at him.

Foaly just stared at her in amazement. He hadn't recognised Holly at first. It was only when she had spoken to him that he'd realised who she was. All he could do was gawp at her. It was incredible! He'd never seen anything quite like this before!

Holly coloured slightly. "Put your eyeballs back in, techie-all-fours. There's no need to stare. Anyway, look at you, all dressed up in your suit! You look _so_ dashingly handsome, oh centaur of mine!" She fluttered her eyelashes and pretended to swoon. If he was going to be like that about her appearance, she was certainly going to do it back to him.

Foaly got over his shock, and poked her in the stomach, causing her to double over in defence. "Don't knock it, Short. You don't know how hard it is to find a quadruped suit these days! The amount of places I had to go to, you'd think I'd asked for a human-size or something!

Holly thumped him playfully on the arm. "If you say so centaur. We'd better get going though, or we're going to be late, and you know what the commander is like if you do that!"

*

Holly and Foaly arrived at the manor house with just two minutes to spare. They were stopped at the door, and their invitations demanded before they were allowed to enter. Security was tight. The LEP weren't taking any chances. Only fairies with an invitation were let past the bodyguards positioned at the manor gates. As an extra precaution, the location of the ball had been kept as secret as possible, and Holly hadn't even been able to tell Carmen where it was. Only those who were coming had been told. It hadn't even said it on the invitations.

They were admitted, and made their way to the ballroom, where the event was being held. By human standards, it was quite an old manor, and had been built about two and a half centuries earlier, during the ball craze that had happened in Haven around that time. All the big manor houses had been built with these huge rooms, designed only for formal occasions, when formal balls had been all the rage. Foaly had even gone to a few himself, though he had never liked that kind of thing. He wasn't good at formal parties. To him, the words seemed like a contradiction in terms. In his opinion, parties were supposed to be fun, and a time for everyone to relax and be themselves. Exactly the opposite of what was happening there tonight. Oh well.

They followed the signs that had been put up to guide them, and arrived in the small antechamber outside the room, where they stood anxiously, trying to work up the courage to enter. Sure, trolls, goblin overthrows, and criminal masterminds were scary, but they had nothing on this. This was in a different league altogether. Neither of them wanted to be the first through that door. 

Eventually, however, they agreed to go together, and feeling not just slightly apprehensive, they went in. They, or should I say Foaly, was spotted by the commander, who came over to greet them. Root wondered who the pretty, young elf on Foaly's arm was. She looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn't quite place her. However, as he reached them, he recognised her at once. It was Holly! Root stopped for a moment, stunned. He recovered himself, and closed the gap between them.

Holly, who had seen the look on his face, sighed. "Here we go again..." she muttered quietly to herself, wishing fervently that she could sink into the polished wooden floor. Why hadn't she tried harder to catch some horrible, _contagious_ disease when she had had the chance? Anything, even the plague, would be better than this. Holly tried desperately to keep her face from turning a nice, bright, cherry colour, and failed miserably. Root tactfully ignored her discomfort. There was no need to make this any harder for her than it already was.

He showed them where they could find food and refreshments, and pointed out a few of the important and influential people in the room whom they didn't already know or work with. One name in particular caught Holly's attention. It was as Root was naming a few of the civilians present.

"That's Lady Camilla, wife of one of the council members, there, standing by that flower arrangement, and talking to her is the owner of this manor. You need to be particularly nice to him, as he is a friend of Lope's, and was kind enough to let us use this place." He pointed subtly to the good-looking elf in the expensive dinner jacket who was standing next to a middle-aged pixie. "His name is Basil Kobalde. The sprite next to him is - "

Holly held up a hand to stop him. "Did you say _Basil Kobalde_?" she asked, attempting to sound casual.

Root looked at her suspiciously. "Yes. Why? Do you know him?"

"I used to. Or at least I thought I did." Holly answered, not taking her eyes off the elf in question. The commander, noticing the glare Basil was receiving, sensed trouble ahead. Obviously Holly had some unresolved issues with this fairy, though what they were, he couldn't quite guess. Whatever it was, however, it couldn't be allowed to get in the way now.

Root grasped her by the shoulders and turned her around to face him. Holly tore her gaze from Kobalde, and looked up at him with a question in her eyes, daring him to ask her what the problem was. He ignored the challenge, and fixed her with a stern, reprimanding look instead.

"Holly, I'm serious about this! Whatever your feelings for Mr Kobalde are, you have to put them aside now. I don't want you, or anyone for that matter, getting into scraps with anyone else, and _especially_ not the host! Got that? I don't need one of my officers disgracing the LEP! I'm frowned upon for letting you stay as it is, and if you pull a stunt like this, you'll be out, and I won't be able to do anything to stop it. Do you understand?"

Holly's insides burned with fury. He knew nothing. He had no idea what Basil had put her through... no idea at all. But she knew she couldn't risk arguing with the commander. Not again. She couldn't disobey a direct order without a tactical reason. There was nothing tactical about wanting to punch someone's lights out.

She nodded sullenly, and turned away in disgust. She clenched her fists, and squeezed hard, to help calm her down. She couldn't just go around attacking random people. She didn't need to be labelled as psychologically insane.

Foaly, it seemed, had just caught on to who the cause of all this controversy was. He turned to Holly, having just remembered where he had heard Kobalde's name.

"Is that the guy who told you that he - "

"Yes" said she quickly, not wanting him to say it, or to have Root hear.

Foaly nodded slowly, catching on. "And was he the one who got Carm - "

"Yes Foaly, that's the one." Holly hissed nervously, throwing a glance at Root, who was looking a bit too interested for her liking. Foaly caught the hint, and shut up quickly, with an apologetic look at Holly. Unfortunately, however, the commander's curiosity had been aroused.

He looked from Foaly to Holly, and then back to Foaly. "Oh, so you know him too, do you Foaly? May I ask how?" he asked suspiciously, eyeing the pair cautiously.

Foaly swallowed nervously, trying to think of an answer that wouldn't get Holly or himself in any more trouble. "Well..." he said slowly, staring fixedly at the floor. "Not exactly. I only know him from what Holly's told me."

Root, seeing that he wasn't going to get anymore information out of either of them, decided to deliver his ultimatum.

"The two of you had better behave yourselves, or the consequences will be dire. Get it?"

Holly and Foaly nodded.

"Good. Now try to look like you're enjoying yourself. This isn't supposed to be a punishment. Much as that may be difficult to believe."

And with that, he left them. Holly flexed her fists, biting her lips together to prevent them from voicing her angry thoughts. Control yourself, girl, she told herself sternly. You can deal with this. Just breathe in, and breathe out. In, and out. That's it. Nice and calm. Just breathe. Slowly, the worst of the anger drained away, but she was left with a fury that simmered and bubbled deep inside her. And at some point it would have to be released, and there would be nothing that she could do to stop it.

*****

*happy sigh* well. There it was at last. Chapter 4. Sorry I took so long, but I just started school, and I'm getting loads of homework...you know how it is. This chapter was actually gonna be a bit longer, but I decided if I put the rest in, it would take me ages, and it would get shortened and rushed. So anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! I KNOW YOU HAVE HOMEWORK, BUT PLEASE REVIEW ANYWAY!!!! PPPPLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah, and I'm gonna sort out italics and stuff on fri...it went a bit wrong this time, so hopefully, next time, I can get 'em!

Bye for now, slime xxxx

p.s: POWER TO THE MUSHROOOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT!!!!!!!!


	5. Internal conflict

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DISCLAIMER: Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, don't like this bit... *drones* I don't own Holly Short, Root, Foaly, or anything else to do with the Artemis Fowl books. They ain't mine *sob* they belong to Eoin Colfer. However, I do own Carmen Geum, Basil Kobalde and the All-Seeing-Eye. Yay for me. Humpf. Anyway, this will be the last disclaimer, 'cos I'm getting bored writing it every time. You all know the drill by now. I know you'll all miss it terribly, but you'll have to get over it! ^_~

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A/N: Sorry about the capitals instead of italics in the last chapter - my computer was misbehaving (BAAAAAAD computer!) and when I uploaded the chap, it made it really wide, so I had to scroll across as well as down, and that's really annoying to read, so I just changed it to text only that time *gasp* Sorry about that. I'll hopefully get it fixed for this chapter (I'm writing this before I would know, you see...) *cracks whip threateningly at computer* hear that? BEHAVE!!! Ahem, anyway, the story...

***** 

Holly downed a glass of champagne in a single gulp. The plan was to get as drunk as possible, so that, hopefully, she'd be too tipsy to notice what was happening around her. It didn't matter that she hated the stuff. The effects were worth it. She reached for the bottle to pour herself some more, but unfortunately, she was spotted. The commander excused himself, and, with a look of thunder on his face, strode towards her. Holly had barely registered his presence when he prized the flute from her reluctant fingers. Grasping her by the arm, he dragged her behind a statue, where they were hidden from view. 

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed angrily, nose a few centimetres from her own. "Are you trying to get kicked out of the LEP? Are you trying to disgrace us? You know as well as I do that intoxicating yourself is never the answer! It always makes things worse! I really can't believe you'd be so stupid!" He paused slightly for effect. "How much have you had?"

Holly swallowed nervously. _'Oops_.' she thought. _'Really shouldn't have done that_.' She briefly considered the pros and cons of arguing back, and finally decided that it wasn't at all wise. At least he was keeping his voice below fifty decibels, which was an uncommon occurrence. It was usually well over a hundred and ten. Trying to sound as innocent a possible, she answered the question. "I've only had three glasses. That was going to be the last one, I swear! I was just, um, really thirsty, that's all." She moistened her dry lips, and smiled in what she hoped was a charming, winning way. It was wasted on Root. He knew she was bluffing.

"Just don't drink any more. If I catch you near that alcohol again, you will be in a serious predicament. Now go and socialise. I don't want any more trouble out of you tonight." He peered round the ornamental stone gargoyle, and with a look that could easily have passed for revengeful triumph, bared his teeth sweetly at Holly. "Would you look at that! If it isn't Mr. Kobalde! He must have come over to our humble corner to treat himself to some culinary delights. Well? What are you waiting for? Go and say hello! This is no way to treat an old acquaintance!"

Holly muttered something not quite audible, and most definitely rude, and stepped cautiously from behind the statue. Luckily, Kobalde was facing the other way, so she wasn't seen emerging from her hiding place. Root came after her, and gave her a slight push in the elf's direction, hissing an order for her to be civil.

Holly's plans to slink off to the opposite corner of the hexagonal ballroom were interrupted as Kobalde turned around, and spotted her. She was just beginning to turn, when she heard her name.

"_Holly_? Holly... _Short_?"

The voice sent shivers shooting up and down her spine, but she didn't show it. Taking a deep breath, she plastered a big, fake smile across her features, and turned round to face him.

"Basil! How _nice_ to see you again!" she said, not even trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Kobalde pretended not to notice. He always had been good at backing out of arguments that would make him look bad.

"Likewise. So how _are_ you? It must have been, what, ten years since we last saw each other!"

__

'Ten years, four months and twenty six days **actually**.' Holly's mind informed her smugly. She gave a mental start. How the _hell_ did she know that? She took a deep breath. _'I'm over this_!' she told herself firmly. _'All that's in the past now, and I am **not** going back there. Not ever. I got over what he did years ago. I'm fine now._

'The other part of her mind snorted contemptuously. _'Whatever. But you're just kidding yourself, and you know it. You'll have to face up to your feelings sometime you know.'_ Holly ignored the voice. She didn't have time for doubts now.

"Has it really been that long?" she asked, feigning interest. "Time has simply flown by me!"

__

'Liar.' whispered the dark, doubting part at the back of her mind. _'You know very well that for the first two years, every moment was hell. Then for the next five, it faded to a constant ache. Now it's **almost** gone. But not quite. Who knows? Maybe there will always be a slight...**residue**. Mind you, you still remember it as though it was yesterday, don't you? You still remember what it felt like when he held you in his arms, and when his lips touched –_

'

Holly froze. **_'Shut up_**!' she told herself angrily. _'This is not the time! We can continue this later, but **not now.** Just leave me alone!_'Suddenly, she realised how ridiculous all this was. Talking to herself like a drunken gnome who'd taken a few too many knocks to the cranium! Honestly! Next she'd be wearing a fluorescent pink lump of rubber on her head, singing praises to the mushrooms, and drinking purple paint! It was a bit pathetic really. Holly shook herself mentally, and returned her mind to the matter at hand. She still had to get through the evening _without_ murdering Kobalde.

The elf in question was looking at her strangely, and Holly suddenly realised how stupid she must look, standing there with a vacant expression on her face, while she struggled to keep a lid on her emotions. Root was giving her the evil eye over Kobalde's shoulder, so Holly decided that now might be the time to remember her manners. The commander's hands would be on her throat soon if she didn't watch it. She smiled apologetically, and attempted to explain herself.

"Sorry about that. Got lost in my own little world for a moment there. What were you saying?"

Basil flashed a grin at her. He always had known how to be chivalrous towards a girl, even if he had planned to break her heart later. Or had done so already, and was coming back to inflict more pain... Holly clenched an iron fist around the part of her mind that was responsible for this train of thought.

__

'I know you can't forget, but just try and forgive?' she asked of it tentatively. It ignored her request, and Holly could feel it stubbornly building up firepower for it's next campaign against Kobalde. She quickly retreated back to the real world before it could hit her with more painful memories. Talking to him now was better than reliving what had happened between them ten years ago...

Kobalde was talking to her again, so Holly quickly started paying attention. She'd made enough of a fool of herself for one night, thank you very much.

"So Holly...who are your friends here? I don't believe I've met either of them before." Basil inquired politely, seeing the need for a direction of conversation. Holly tried not to think about the idea of Root being her friend, and introduced the two of them.

"How rude of me! I'm so sorry. Basil, this is Commander Julius Root, from recon, and Chief Technical Consultant Foaly. Foaly, Commander, this is Basil Kobalde."

"Nice to meet you." said Root, shaking the hand that was offered to him, and smiling at its owner. Foaly simply shook it without even making eye contact with the elf. He thought he was beginning to understand just why Holly hated him so much.

"And Holly, my dear! I can't for the life of me work out why you would be here. Were you the..." He thought for a moment. "...secretary working in police plaza that day? Or perhaps you came to accompany an officer? The commander here, or maybe even... _Foaly_?"

Holly stiffened. She hadn't failed to miss the barb concealed in his words. He was implying that she couldn't be anything else. He'd always thought her ambition to be in the military was just a stupid phase she was going through. He'd never really considered the possibility that she would ever make it to be a serious one. And now, implying that she was the lady friend of someone who was who knows how many times her age; that was just degrading. He really did disgust her, this guy. He hadn't changed a bit.

She swallowed her angry retorts and smiled placidly. "No, I wasn't the secretary, and I'm not with one of the officers." She grinned in what could only be described as a barely contained smugness. " I am an officer."

Basil couldn't quite hide his astonishment. He had never fully believed her to be capable of anything much. And if she got her way, he would live to regret the day he had thought that she wouldn't ever do anything with her life. She would show him just how dangerous underestimating Holly Short could be. Her insides sang at the thought of an opportunity to pulverise him. She could hardly wait...

Kobalde was still looking stunned. This was clearly a complete shock to him. He rapidly pulled himself together, and said cheerfully, "So you finally made it into the military! You achieved your dreams. Congratulations. I'm so pleased for you." The last two sentences were laced subtly with sarcasm and bitterness. However, they weren't quite discreet enough to escape the commander's attention. Sensing a danger point, he jumped in to prevent Holly's temper from exploding in Kobalde's face. She really was being a right pain in the –

"Captain Short here was a member of the team that stormed Koboi labs a few months ago. She was one of the witnesses to Lieutenant Cudgeon's death." he said quickly, digging his nails into Holly's wrist from behind as a warning, so Basil wouldn't see. A strange look had passed over Kobalde's face when the commander had mentioned Cudgeon's name. It had been one of almost loathing, but with a hint of triumph behind it. Root dismissed it as just his mind playing tricks on him. Anyway, Mr. Kobalde's opinion of people was none of his business. It was his business, however, to ensure that Holly behaved herself.

Kobalde, meanwhile, had finally put two and two together. And discovered that they made four.

"So it _was_ you in the paper! It was _you_ that got yourself kidnapped by that mudboy! What was his name again? Was it... Achilles Fowl? But never mind that now... I knew the name sounded familiar, I just didn't ever believe it could be you! Well, I mean, the thought crossed my mind, but, let's be honest, no one ever thought you would be able to do it! I mean, I know you're a great person, but you just didn't have that, that... something, that... edge needed to be really successful in the LEP."

Holly's self control snapped as surely as though Kobalde had cut it with a pair of scissors. She fumed with silent fury. How dare he! Telling her she didn't have what it took to achieve her dreams, when she was standing here in front of him, having fulfilled the very one he'd told her she couldn't! And in front of her boss too! This man desperately needed putting in his place. The phrase: 'Don't get mad; get even' was exactly what Holly wanted to do. It was a bit too late for the first part; she was already there, but the last part was definitely a possibility. A must even. He deserved everything she could throw at him for his crimes, past and present.

She raised an eyebrow slightly, as an expression of her disapproval, but not enough to give him the satisfaction of seeing her react in the way he had been aiming for. She smirked at him, and delivered her attack.

"So... How on earth did you come by this place? Not by earning it, surely! What did you do; sleep with an estate agent? Seduce her, get the deal finalised, then break her heart? Or maybe even a millionaire's daughter? Daddy's little darling would be just to your taste! That's rather your style, isn't it, Baz. You're really quite excellent at that, aren't you! Your speciality, even!"

She stood still for a moment, watching his face with vindictive triumph. Root's fingers where digging into her wrist so hard that she felt sure her bones were about to snap like brittle glass. She tore her arm from his grasp, turned away, and walked off to the other end of the room. As she went, she didn't once look back. If she did, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

__

'What have you done?' she asked herself helplessly. _'Root warned you so many times, and you just went and did it! He's going to skin you alive!'_

'Ah, but it was worth it wasn't it!' her mind replied dreamily. _'To finally exact some of your own sweet revenge! Didn't it feel great_!'

Holly had to admit that it had felt pretty damn good. Better even than walloping Fowl over a year ago. Revenge really was just the best thing under the world...

She arrived shaking slightly at the other end of the room. Captain Kelp, seeing the look on her face, and the way in which she was standing, detached himself from his conversation with Corporal Frond, and came over to her. Taking her gently by the arm, he led her into a corner.

"Are you OK Holly? You look shaken up."

Holly forced a smile. "Oh, it's nothing. I only handed Root a loaded gun and made him point it at my head." she laughed grimly. "Would you make sure my body doesn't get left in the gutter somewhere?"

Trouble bit his lip. "That bad? What did you do? Point out to him that he was a bad-tempered control-freak?"

Holly shook her head, smiling. "Not exactly. I allowed my temper to be unleashed on the host. Usually, I would have kept my control, but this guy..." She gave an exasperated sigh. "... He just..." She trailed off, unable to find the words to describe Kobalde.

Trouble winced. "Ancient history? Yeah, I know that story. Worst kind. And the host as well? Ouch. Would you rather be buried or cremated?"

"Exactly." agreed Holly. "I reckon I'll probably have to take an extended break, and go to Atlantis until he's cooled down. I could really do with a long holiday. Mind you, he'll probably have thought of another excuse to have me hung, drawn and quartered by then. Maybe I should just go live in a hole in the ground somewhere under the South Pole. Nice and far away."

Trouble sniggered. Holly grinned. Problems were just so much better when you shared them, even if you didn't really know the person. It made you feel like you weren't completely on your own.

Meanwhile, the commander was busy trying to apologise to Kobalde for the unacceptable conduct of his officer. Basil merely brushed his words away, ensuring him that Holly always had had difficulty holding her tongue when she had something rude to say.

Against his will, Root began to harden towards him. The man's insolent attitude towards her, and the way that he obviously hated her, and wanted to destroy the life she had built for herself, was more than slightly disturbing. Whatever had happened ten years ago, he realised, must have been grim for the hate to have survived so long between them. He couldn't quite imagine what Kobalde had done to her, or she to him, but for some reason, he felt sure that Holly was in the right. Kobalde was a nasty piece of work. There was no doubt about that.

However, justified as it may have been, Holly could not be allowed to get away with disobeying his direct order. Discipline had to be maintained at all times. He made his excuses to Kobalde, and began to wander in the direction Holly had taken. Trouble, seeing him coming, quickly alerted her.

"Holly!" he hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "Angry, red-faced boss at one o'clock! Shift!" He shoved her behind a large flower arrangement, grabbing her arm to steady her as she almost tripped on the stand. She shot him a grateful look.

"Thanks." she whispered, peering through the petals to check how close the commander was. "I'd better make a run for it. Cover for me?"

Trouble nodded slightly, flapping his hand at her to try and persuade her to move. She checked Root's distance again, then crept stealthily round behind the tables, and other ornaments scattered around, ducking to avoid being seen. She reached the door to an antechamber, and slunk through it.

The commander, who had seen her talking to Trouble, headed straight for the elf, who was trying his best to look as innocent and uninformed as possible. It didn't really work.

"Where did she go?" he growled, wasting no time on niceties. Captain Kelp pretended to look surprised.

"I'm sorry; who?" he asked in mock puzzlement.

"Don't play dumb Kelp, you were just talking to her."

Understanding dawned on Trouble's face. "Oh! That her! Sorry, I wasn't sure who you were talking about."

Root resisted the urge to grab him by the collar and shake the information out of him. "Yes, her. Now where did she go?"

Trouble desperately tried to think of a cover story. He could only think of one, and there wasn't any more time…

"Er… she went to the, um, bathroom, to, er, fix her hair." Mentally he slapped himself. 'She went to the bathroom to fix her hair'? What kind of an excuse was that?

Root raised an eyebrow. "Was that the best you could up with? You and I both know that Holly wouldn't leave to mess around with her appearance. I'll ask you one more time. Where is she?" He articulated the last part slowly, so that the Captain couldn't pretend he hadn't understood.

Trouble bit his lip. "She said she was leaving to get a bit of peace and quiet." he said tonelessly. "I think she has a headache." he added, in an attempt to persuade him to go easy on her. The commander wasn't swayed an inch. He simply smiled at Kelp in an annoyingly smug way, and headed in the direction Holly had taken.

Foaly, who had watched all this, started to move as well. If he could just beat him to the door, and warn Holly… At least Trouble was holding Root up a bit, so he had a small head start. He got there just in time to not be spotted by the commander.

On the other side of the door, Holly was sitting nervously on a chair. As the door swung open, she jumped up, fear in her eyes for a split second. Seeing it was only Foaly, she sank back down into the cushion.

"Holly! Scram! Beetroot's onto you! He'll be here any second now!" Holly stood again, and looked wildly around her for a place to hide. Then she was stopped in her tracks.

"What was that you called me Foaly?" came the dangerously calm tones of the commander's voice. Cursing silently to herself, Holly attempted to sneak away while his back was turned. A hand gripped her shoulder firmly, and pulled her back.

"And where do you think you're going, Ms Short? I haven't said you can go anywhere."

The bottom dropped off Holly's stomach, and she closed her eyes for a second, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. 'So this will be what it's like to die.' she thought grimly. 'At least I'm not alone.'

The hand on her shoulder turned her round to face the man it was attached to. Holly looked up into the livid face of the commander, and swallowed nervously, smothering the fear that was rising in her throat. She opened her mouth to make her excuses and apologies, but he held up his hand.

"No." he said, and Holly could see that it was taking all he had to avoid yelling his head off. "Don't say anything. You have said enough already. Now I understand that you have a problem with Mr. Kobalde. Fine. Beat yourself up about it. However, it is not acceptable for you to behave that way towards our host, AND IT IS DEFINITELY UNACCEPTABLE FOR YOU TO DISOBEY A DIRECT ORDER!" his voice rose to a shout, as he got angrier and angrier. Holly winced as the sound waves traumatised her eardrums. D'Arvit, but this guy knew how to scream at a girl...

"HOW _DARE_ YOU? I _WARNED_ YOU, THEN I _TOLD_ YOU NOT TO INVOLVE YOURSELF IN A CONFRONTATION WITH HIM, BUT YOU WENT AHEAD AND DID IT ANYWAY! DO YOU ACTUALLY GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO ANNOY ME? ARE YOU TRYING TO SEE HOW FAR YOU CAN PUSH ME BEFORE I KICK YOU OUT? BECAUSE LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, MADAM, YOU ARE VERY CLOSE!"

Holly gritted her teeth, preparing herself for a long period of exposure to the abuse on her hearing. At least the fairies in the ballroom escaped the noise. They had soundproofed walls between them and the commander's mouth. She had barely a few centimetres of empty air.

She braced herself for the next onslaught, but it never came. The commander had stopped, and was listening hard. Slowly, he crept towards a small door that led to a passage between the three antechambers adjoining the ballroom, a thoughtful expression resident in his features.

Then suddenly, he turned back, a nervous expression on his face. "Did anyone else hear that?" he hissed, walking carefully back to them. Holly and Foaly froze, listening intently. They all heard it this time.

"Sounds like we're not the only ones here. But we should be." Foaly whispered. The three exchanged glances, and wordlessly, moved closer. Together they crept towards the door.

******

... dun, dun DUUUUUN!!! Wow, I really am getting the hang of this cliff-hanger thing! Or maybe not… anyhoo, that was chapter 5! At last! I'm soooooooooo sorry I didn't update earlier, but I have had so much homework lately! God! I've been completely swamped! For instance, this weekend, I've got **_4_**, yes **_4_** pieces of art homework, each one taking me about 1-2 hours, I've got to finish my whole great long massive English essay for Wednesday, _and_ I have to do a whole science investigation for Monday! Stress!!! *Breaks down in tears* it's not fair, why, why, WHY???? Ahem… so I haven't had much time to write. I also have a bit of a problem with my computer…

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CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME??? The problem is, when I write the chapters as HTML documents in word, when I upload them, they turn up really wide. Very annoying. Whole paragraphs fit onto one line. Ugh. No one else seems to have the same problem, so I can't ask them. I think it might be a setting on my computer, so if anyone knows how to change it so it works, or has had or is having the same problem, could you email me and tell me how to fix it? Or just have a good 'ole moan if you want… or just leave it in the review. I have something I can do for now, but it is but a mere torch in the long and unending tunnel of format problems, which leads to the light of no problem. I will be eternally grateful. I will also tell you what I did, if you're interested to know. Please help me. I'm desperate. (Later note: I have now fixed this problem and it's all fine. *grin* Joy!)

On a more positive note, I have something to celebrate… I have reached the epic, and wonderful milestone of…

(`'·.¸(`'·.¸(`'·.*¤*.·'´)¸.·'´)¸.· '´ )  
«´¨`·..¤ ~50 reviews!~ ¤..·´¨`»  
(¸.·'´ (¸.·' (¸.·*¤*· .¸) `'·.¸) `'·.¸)

Yay! Wooooohooooooo! I'm so proud of myself. I should probably say that I nicked the design thingy from my friend Mei Leng. With permission, but still nicked. Thank you to all those who contributed to these stats! I love you all! And of course, I would just love it if you would review again! Please tell me what you think, 'cos it's helpful. I really am gonna go now.

Bye!

Luv slime xxxxx


	6. Assessment of the situation

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A/N: Sorry about format problems in the last chapter – it looks like my incredibly wonderful and clever plan didn't 

quite work. Oh well. Maybe this time I will have better luck. I hope so. I'm really sorry it turned out so 

annoyingly. I'll re-upload it when I upload this one.

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: thank you to all those who reviewed! There was only about 3 of you, but still… thank you so very 

much to **Artemis Fowl the Second, Blue Yeti** and **sindaarniel**. Love ya all! And to all those who didn't review… shame 

on you! *sob* ^_~ just kiddin', I'm actually thrilled to have 3. I still can't believe that people have 

acknowledged the fact that I actually exist. It is an incredible thing. 

Oh, yeah, and to **blue** **yeti**: about what you said about decibels – I dunno if its different elsewhere, but in the 

U.K, we do decibels increasing with volume. Sorry if I annoyed you when you thought I got it wrong. I did look in, 

like, three different science books to check that I was right, including a SATs revision guide, and a science 

encyclopaedia. They got me through with level 8s for my SATs, so I kinda assumed they were right. If they weren't, 

I'm really sorry, and please will you accept my humble apologies.
    
    *****

Holly took the lead, with Root and Foaly close behind her. Slowly, they edged to the door so as not to make any noise, and alert the creatures in the passage. Holly grasped the door handle firmly, then, with a glance behind her to make sure the other two were ready, pushed the door open, and stood poised in the doorframe, fists raised, ready to fight if the fairies attacked.

They didn't. Well, not immediately. Being goblins, it took them a few seconds to realise what was happening, and a few more to decide on what to do. This gave Holly enough time to land a flying kick on the goblin closest to her, knocking it to the floor. 

Unfortunately, she hadn't taken the restrictions of her outfit into consideration. Instead of keeping her balance, and being ready for the next strike in a matter of nanoseconds, her dress snagged her legs, binding them together, and she went flying backwards, arms flailing. Luckily, the commander was close enough to catch her and stop her from cracking her head open on the stone floor.

When her foot had connected with the goblins chest, Holly's shoe had become loose, and in the few seconds that she was down, she took the opportunity to flick her ankle, causing the thing to hit one goblin right in the centre of it's ugly forehead. It didn't take him out, but brought Foaly enough time to get ahead of her, and deliver a kick to its cranium.

Fortunately for the goblin, Foaly, being a centaur, had had the subtleties of using one's hooves drilled into his brain over and over again before he had managed to escape to techie-school. This meant that although it had been catapulted into the dark world of unconsciousness, there would be no permanent damage to what little brains the goblin had. That species needed every brain cell they could muster.

"Nice manoeuvre!" Holly quipped, now up and using her training in upper-body combat to contribute to the dispatchment of the remaining eight goblins.

Foaly took a second to flash a grin at her. "And what about you? That was nifty footwork back there."

Holly moved slightly to the side, so as to give the commander more room to attack.

"The shoe? That was just something they taught me in my FSD class. It's one of the first things you learn."

Root raised an eyebrow, ramming a particularly resistant goblin into the passage wall. "'FSD class'? I didn't know they held those at the academy."

Holly smirked. "They don't. I didn't learn everything with the LEP, you know! It stands for 'Female Self Defence'." she explained. "Carmen and I used to go together. It was her idea, and she didn't want to go on her own. I've forgotten most of it, 'cos I know better techniques now, but I still remember the odd move."

She curled her fingers, and double-punched the last goblin into submission. They were the only three beings left standing in the passage. All ten goblins lay sprawled on the floor, blacked out.

"Nice work people!" commented the commander, nodding approvingly. "Now what I want to know is how the _hell _these idiots got into this place! I thought security was meant to be _tight_ here, not non-existent!"

Holly and Foaly nodded in bemusement. It seemed unbelievable that _goblins_ had been able to come up with the idea to be there, bypass the security, and manage to go so long undiscovered. They were obviously up to no good. And they were just as obviously not acting on their own. There were bound to be more somewhere in the manor…

Foaly bent down to examine one of the goblins' equipment. "These definitely aren't the only ones here. Look at this." He pointed to the creature's ear. Holly and Root squatted down next to him, leaning closer to see better. There was a small communications device attached to the flap of skin, complete with camera, mike, and of course, speaker.

Holly bit her lip. It certainly looked like Foaly's hypothesis was correct. The centaur, seeing the expression on her face nodded.

"Exactly. From the look of this, it's a Wide Area receiver, with a transmitter for use on a smaller scale. I'm guessing it could possibly be one of a group of 200 receivers, and is probably in contact with at least 30 other transmitters." Carefully, he detached the hardware from the thing's ear, peering more closely at it.

The commander rubbed his eyes. "Which means…" he trailed off expectantly.

"It means we've got a serious problem." Holly muttered, gazing thoughtfully at the small piece of electrical wiring.

"Quite." said Foaly, now starting to dismantle the object using a small tool that he had secreted away in his pocket. "Basically, the goblin can communicate with his squad, up to about 15 individuals, and can also keep in contact with one member of each other squad, probably up to about 20 to 25 different ones. So he can talk to his team, and can keep in contact with any other buddies of his who are infesting this place."

The commander was starting to understand. "I know the ones you mean. We use that system when we send two or more retrieval squads out on a mission together. What's the rest of it mean?"

"Well, in addition to the transmitters, they have receivers. As I said, from the look of them, there are 200, possible 300 of these babies all connected up to the same place. You can speak to all of them at once, or you can just zero in on a selective group. We don't use these in the LEP. They take advanced engineering to make them work over a large area. I just don't have time to hook 'em up for every mission. These are too advanced for goblins to make or use. Sorry guys. It looks like we have superior management."

Root swore, and Holly ground her teeth in frustration. Now they had another mystery to solve.
    
    
    *****
    Well, shorter chapter than usual, but what can a girl do? It was gonna be about two/three times this length, but I
    decided that this was a good place to stop the chapter. Don't worry though. I plan to upload the next chapter (I'm
    about to do it, just as soon as I finish typing this) very, very soon so, I'm making up for the shortness! I have
    the day off today, you see, 'cos its an inset day at my school (teacher training day) so I get the day off. Then,
    next week, I have half term break for a week, but I'm getting dragged down to Devon for the whole thing, so I won't
    be updating for like, two weeks.
    Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and PLEASE REVIEW 'COS I WILL LOVE YOU FOR EVER, AND EVER, AND EVER, AND
    EVER…
    Bye! Luv slime xxx "POWER TO THE MUSHROOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT!"


	7. The best gun under the world

**__**

A/N: Told you I'd be back soon! Well, here it is, chapter 7 already! I'm not gonna bother doing a 'TO MY REVIEWERS' this time, because what would be the point when I'm uploading this chap at the same time as the previous one! And I have finally gotten my format fixed (ish)!!! Yay!!! *dances* I'm so happy…

*****

The three LEP personnel got to work. Actually, to be more accurate, two did. Foaly settled himself down in a corner, and began to dismantle three of the earpieces that they had collected, saying that if he could just … do this, then it just might be possible to… do that…

Holly and Root, meanwhile, got on with tying up their adversaries. They really didn't need them waking up and causing trouble again. They had already de-activated their communication devices (a simple tweak of a wire here and a wire there, and the all other end would receive would be static) and had confiscated the weaponry each grunt had been supplied with.

As Holly looked at the assorted armaments, she felt her unease swell like a balloon inside her chest. This wasn't just the work of some over ambitious scum from the back streets of Haven, who'd pulled together any stolen or retired weaponry they could lay their dirty hands on. This one had excellent connections – these guns were like nothing she'd ever seen before. Obviously they were very new, and were still being tested at the weapons manufacturers, or Foaly would have bored her with the technical details long ago.

She hefted a particularly mean looking laser, and took aim at the corner of the roof. She flicked the setting down as low as it could go, and gently, squeezed the trigger. It responded beautifully to her command, heading straight and true to the vertex, emitting a pale blue glow. It chipped a tiny bit of the plaster from the exact point where the walls and ceiling met, and she watched it as it floated slowly down to the ground. Incredible. Not a nanometre out, even at this distance.

She gave a low whistle as she ran her fingers over the barrel and settings gauge. This thing could be pretty nasty. It could easily sustain enough power to vaporise a stampeding bull-troll with one shot, and could sink the charge emitted to barely enough to knock a leaf of a bush. That was an incredible range. It was a dream gun. As soon as this came out, Holly knew what would be on her wilderness list. And on the LEP's too, she was sure.

She weighed it in her palm. It was amazingly light, but seemed to be made of a heavy-duty metal like titanium, which wasn't exactly featherweight. Holly was just about to check the power source it used when it was snatched from her.

"What were you doing?" asked the commander's dangerously calm voice in her ear. She jumped.

"I was just testing it out, and seeing if we… could make... use of… them…" she trailed off, and blushed as Root raised an eyebrow.

"Just warn us next time you want to start shooting dangerous firearms you've only just encountered, and know nothing about, would you?"

Holly nodded, cringing slightly at the sarcasm in his tone. She should have known he'd give her stick for doing something spontaneous. It wasn't as though she hadn't considered the risks. She had made sure that the setting wouldn't cause any damage, and had aimed it well away from them. But the commander just couldn't seem to see that she had been careful, and went ahead and blamed her anyway. Holly sighed. Would it ever change?

He handed her back the gun, and took another from the pile, completing his own examination of the weapon. Although he tried hard to hid it, Holly could see that he was as impressed as she had been. It took a recon officer to fully appreciate these things.

He selected a holster, and threw two others to her and Foaly. Holly fastened the strap round her waist, and fitted the laser into its position. She felt her confidence and security flow back like a flood of warmth. D'Arvit, it felt good to have a gun at her hip again…

Suddenly, Foaly gave a small exclamation of triumph. "Yes!" he hissed, grinning like a Cheshire cat, obviously very proud of himself. "I have a little present for the two of you. And I think you are going to like it very much!"

Holly and Root exchanged a look. They weren't impressed.

Foaly brushed away their failure to react properly, and held up one of the earpieces he had been fiddling with. They looked at him, unswayed.

"Yeah, and?" asked Holly incredulously. "It looks exactly the same as when we gave it to you _half an hour_ ago. What have you been doing techie-boy?" She winked cheekily at him, while he swished his tail in annoyance. It was always these two…

He sighed patiently. "I know it looks the same. But it's what it does that's different. I've altered the frequency modulators so that these three only are on a unique Closed Area Network. It can't be traced, as it isn't being broadcast to anywhere else. None of the other headsets can pick up the signal." He looked at them expectantly. Holly and Root both looked thoroughly confused. He sighed again. "I've made you three unhackable walkie-talkies."

He rolled his eyes, and shook his head. Holly grinned. She'd known what he'd meant all along.

"Not bad, centaur! How the hell did you do that?" Root asked, impressed in-spite of himself.

Foaly's ego inflated just a little more. "It was simple really. All I had to do was disconnect the transmitter, fry the connections to the other headsets, then re-align the frequency modulators to read only the other two, and you're done. Easy as skinning a stink worm."

"So if it was so easy, why didn't you have time to help the commander and I secure the perps?" Holly asked, thoroughly enjoying Foaly's annoyance.

Foaly shot her an evil glare and explained loftily that it was a delicate procedure that took time and skill, and couldn't be rushed. Holly just tossed him one of the guns. She'd known that as well.

Carefully, Foaly handed out his precious 'walkie-talkies' and they all hooked them onto their ears, making sure they wouldn't come off. Holly reclaimed her shoe, buckling it up tightly this time. Next, she stuffed her hand down one of the goblins' boots, and sure enough, found a small knife. It seemed that no matter how much fancy equipment you gave a thug, they always took a blade just in case.

Gripping it in her right hand, Holly yanked her dress taught, and held the knife over her leg. Root seeing what she was doing, grabbed her wrist quickly, thinking she was about to try and cut herself.

Holly's head whipped round, and she looked at him, puzzled. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly, sounding shocked.

Holly stared at him, amazed by his reaction. "I'm just going to lengthen the slits in my dress! You saw what happened before! I can't fight with it like this!"

The commander's eyes searched her face, trying to decide if she was telling the truth. He saw that she was. Reluctantly, he let go of her wrist.

"Sorry." Holly was looking at him as though he was mad. "I didn't know what to think!" he said defensively. "You looked exactly like you were about to sink that knife into your calf. Any one could have made the mistake. Just be careful. I can't afford for one of my _two_ officers to be out of action!"

Holly just shook her head slightly, and bent over her leg again. She pulled the knife thorough the fabric, wincing as she thought of what Carmen would do to her for ruining one of her favourite dresses. She withdrew the blade when it reached about halfway up her thigh, and moved to the other side, doing the same. Finally, she hacked off the bottom of the dress, so that it now came almost to her knees, and ended in a shredded edge. She hadn't exactly been neat. At one point, the bottom came well up her thigh, while in another, reached halfway down her calf. It would have to do though. They needed to get moving.

"Right. Here's the plan." Root said, rubbing his hands together in a business-like fashion. "There is at least one other squad of goblins here in the manor. Now, as we found this one directly outside the ballroom, guarding this exit, it seems, then it stands to reason that there will be two other squads guarding the other two exits. Our first priority is to take them out. I seriously doubt those will be the last. This whole situation looks as though they are planning something concerning the people in the ballroom. I have a feeling that if we warn those people, we will regret it. There are civilians in there who don't know how to behave in a crisis like this. They would panic. And when people panic right next to you, you have a tendency to follow suit. There would be mass hysteria." He paused to let this sink in. It sank. Nice and deep.

"Once we have taken out the squads positioned by the doors," he continued, "We meet back here again, and decide on where we go next. To get this done quickly, we need to split into two groups. Holly, you and Foaly team up, and take the passage to the right. I'll go through to the left. We meet in the middle."

Holly opened her mouth to protest about not being allowed to go on her own, but Root held up a hand, and shook his head to keep her quiet.

"You are at a slight disadvantage to myself as you have the handicap of a dress, and heeled shoes. Just trust me on this one. We'll probably have to split up into three groups after this, but for now Foaly could do with someone to keep his head attached to his neck. Now lets get going. We've got work to do."

He held out his hand, and Holly and Foaly covered it with theirs. They stood like that for a moment, drawing strength and courage from each other.

Foaly grinned. "Keep in touch Julius. See you on the other side." Root looked like he was about to comment on Foaly's address of him, but didn't. He simply smiled back, then turned and disappeared round the corner.

Holly and Foaly exchanged a look, and headed in the other direction.

*****

dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnn!!! Well. At last. *sigh* two chapters in one day. Just to tell you all that the next chapter will probably be up in 2 weeks, on Friday. That's the 1st of November. It's likely to be a bit late though, and highly unlikely to be early. But I shall try. Anyway, hope you all have lovely lives while I am banished to the wetness, and coldness of *shudder* _Devon _and I'll see you all in two weeks. Bye!

Oh, yeah, and please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please review, 'cos I will love you forever! Honest! And one more thing…

POWER TO THE MUSHROOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT!

Bye! ^_~ 

slime xxxx 


	8. A roomful of people

**__**

A/N: I am sooooooooooo sorry I didn't update sooner. I know I said I'd post the new chapter a week ago, but I've had a huge gigantic ton of homework and coursework to do, and I have had no time! I'm really sorry! I would have written in Devon, but the utter boredom made my brain shut down, and any story I tried to write was just written in a really waffly, boring, over-descriptive, annoying-to-read kinda way, and I thought you'd want the chapter how it should be, not some piece of long, boring crap, that was about 90% stuffing. (I've just been writing an English essay, so all the talk from my teacher about eradicating waffle and useless stuffing has crept into my vocabulary. Never, ever, write a GCSE English essay. They are hell. Believe me.)

For anyone that cares, Devon was like it always is in the months approaching winter. One day we had sunshine, blue skies, birds singing happily, then five minutes (literally – I'm really not kidding, that is how fast it changes sometimes) later, clouds, rain, gale-force winds, rain, hail, rain, thunder, lightening, and about 20 mini-power-cuts in one night. Ugh.

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: thanks to you all again! I love you I love you I love you! Thanks to **Just a little critic, Sara :-)**, **EMeraldQUeen**, **Da-xia Nariko**, **sindaaraniel**, **Luna Moon** and **Eleida**. I love you all!!! And to **EMeraldQUeen**, I have put a little cameo for Trouble in this one, just for you! He may have tiny little bits for a while, and maybe he'll be involved in the finale… hmmmmmmmm… By the way, if you happen to think of another name for a chapter (my 'inspiration' for chapter names is fast leaving me) I would be very grateful. My darling editors are great at spotting mistakes (no they're not! You all cry! We spotted a ton of mistakes!) but they aren't good at thinking of chapter names for me. *sigh*. I would be grateful for your input. Thanks.

*****

Holly could see that something was distracting Foaly from the mission. Although she didn't want to, she knew she had to stop and sort it out as quickly as possible, so they could get on. She couldn't have his mind elsewhere during action.

"Out with it centaur." she snapped, pausing in the corridor. He blinked, not sure what she was talking about. Then he clicked.

"Well, the think I don't understand is, why we can't go in there, get a discrete number of officers, then do what we gotta do with a reasonable amount of back-up." he explained. "There could be hundreds of goblins in this manor. There are three of us. Three. One shortish elf in a dress, one techie untrained in combat, and one high-cholesterolled, sell-by-date-approaching commander. We don't stand a chance. We might as well just go jump down a pressure-elevator right now!"

Holly stared at him for a moment, trying to work out if this was some twisted joke of his to hold her up. Seeing his confusion was genuine, she shook her head slightly, staring at him in disbelief.

"Don't you get it Foaly?" she half-whispered, shock registering in her voice. "This whole thing stinks worse than an unwashed troll of a hostage situation. These goons aren't here to nick a few candlesticks! They're organised. They have to know we're out here by now. If they see us go back into that room on the surveillance they are bound to have in there, they are not going to like it. There could easily be mass-murder. Whatever happens, we can't go in there until we've depleted the goblin personnel count a bit. The people in there wouldn't stand a chance! At least this way there's a small one." She turned away, still shaking her head. "I thought you understood that."

Foaly stood still for a moment, his brain processing all possible alternatives. There weren't any. With a melodramatic sigh, he drew his weapon and fired it up. "Let's go." he drawled in his best tough-guy voice. Holly couldn't help but grin. Foaly had been watching way too many action movies lately. He needed to get out more.

*****

****

IN THE BALLROOM:

Trouble Kelp's eyes searched the room, trying to locate the diminutive form of Captain Short. He couldn't see her anywhere. Nor could he see Root or Foaly. He bit his lip. He just hoped they weren't killing each other. He was considering leaving the room to look for them, when he saw what his brother was up to. Grub was looking decidedly stoned, and was evidently making a fool of himself in front of the other guests. With the weary sigh if the ever-patient sufferer, Trouble gallantly stepped to the rescue of his little brother's pride. He was sure the three missing officers could look after themselves. Unlike the corporal.

~

Kobalde cursed silently to himself. D'Arvit! He hadn't expected her to be here. Of course, he'd known Root and Foaly, and many of the other officers were coming, but she had just been another name on the guest list, albeit one that had gently twanged a chord in his memory. He didn't want her getting involved, though he wasn't one-hundred-percent sure why he even cared. He refused to believe she still had any power over him. Gone were the days when he would have done anything for her. Weren't they?

****

IN THE CONNECTING CORRIDOR:

Holly and Foaly crept along the passage, careful not to make a single sound. They came to a sixty-degree turn that marked a corner of the hexagonal room.

They froze as they heard the gentle murmur of goblin voices coming from around the bend. Holly flattened herself against the wall, and raising her laser, slid stealthily along it. Using LEP hand code designed for non-verbal communication, the two fairies got into position for the attack.

"Three," Holly mouthed. "Two, one." She swung round the corner, finger pumping the trigger. Together, they managed to take out half of the squad before the goblin counter shots began to fly. They quickly retreated again, knowing that their adversaries' weapons were not set to stun; they were set to kill. Neither elf nor centaur had any desire to end their elongated lives to goblins.

Holly pressed her back to the plaster again, the adrenaline surging through her veins. A firefight had never failed to get her heart pumping, and this was certainly no exception. She darted from the shelter of the wall, squeezing off a few blasts before dodging back. She heard a thump. One of her shots must have found its target.

The goblins didn't have a clue what was going on at first. Three of them were immobilised before they actually realised they were under fire. Their attackers managed to take out two more before they got it into their thick skulls that now might be a good time to use those guns of theirs. Honestly. Dur.

But by the time their fumbling digits had found the triggers, the elf and the centaur had disappeared round the corner again. Another few seconds later, a particularly smart goblin came up with the notion to follow them. It promptly did, only to stop after a few steps, clutching its head as pain bathed every nerve-end. The order to stay by the entrance had been burned like a brand into its head – the All-Seeing-Eye had wanted to make sure they did their job properly and didn't wander off. And he wasn't in a good position to reset the mind-controls just then. He was already busy with the feedback on the three breakouts.

The other three goblins, unimpressed by their comrade's plight, ignored the warning laid bare before them, and shoved ahead, only to be stopped in their tracks with whimpers of pain.

Foaly shot Holly a puzzled look, and she stuck her head around the corner to see what was going on. The goblins were backing away from the invisible barrier that held them off, then, finding their pain completely gone (and forgotten), charging at it again, only to fall back cradling their ugly heads.

Holly beckoned to Foaly, who peeked nervously round the edge, head feeling exposed without its foil bonnet. He shrugged in response to her unspoken question, and waved his gun meaningfully at her. She nodded and they sprang round the corner, weapons up again. The goblins were too pre-occupied with their little dilemma to remember why they were attempting what they were, and hardly noticed that their attackers were shooting at them again. They were scarcely aware their own fall from consciousness.

Holly and Foaly quickly disarmed, disconnected and secured them with the plastic cable-ties found on one of the goblins' persons. A further examination revealed that every member of the squad had a whole cache of the lightweight securers. It looked like they had come prepared to detain a large number of people. A roomful maybe. Not a good sign.

They split the ties between them, Foaly stashing his away in numerous pockets, and Holly, who was not lucky enough to be blessed with that particular commodity in her outfit, stuck them in the holster strap at her waist, where they were held securely in place. They were just starting to disable the goblin weaponry, when the hardware in their ears crackled, and the commander's strained voice filtered through.

"Could do with a little help here!" he grunted, and they heard the sound of laser shots in the background. "Now, if you're not too busy, Captain Short!"

Holly winced. Looked like she was getting herself into trouble again. "I'm coming right now sir. Just hold on for about half a minute while I get to you." She drew her handgun again, and jacked the power back up to 'stun'. "Be a good boy while I'm away, centaur." she said, winking at Foaly. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." And with that, she sprinted off towards the commander.

~

It was ten to one. Not great odds, even for one of recon's most successful officers. These goblins had been more alert than the rest. They had obviously received a warning. Root had only managed to take out two before he had been forced to retreat, and only one more by squeezing off bursts on the run.

They hadn't been expecting an attack from behind, though. Root couldn't help but smirk as Holly suddenly appeared, big grin on her face, deadly gun in her hand. She got two more before they even turned around. As soon as their backs were to him, the commander left the safety of the bend, and started carefully picking them off. He couldn't afford to blast his way outta this one. There was always the risk that he could hit Holly, and then where would they be? They didn't stand a chance in hell with Foaly as his only back up.

There were only five left now. No match for two full-trained LEPrecon officers. The whole lot lay snoring on the floor in a matter of seconds. No contest.

After securing the perps, Root and Holly made their way back to where Foaly was crouching next to a goblin, looking thoughtful.

"Theory?" Holly inquired, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

"It's the behaviour." Foaly said, frowning. "Obviously something that affected only them was stopping them from leaving the area near the door. I've only ever seen goblins behave like that once before. They were under mind-control. Very rare. Less than a handful of fairies have the skill today, and we keep tabs on all of them. Mostly, they just make a living from fobbing off customers by reading their minds, and making up a prediction based on what they stole from their heads. It can be very convincing. The others just don't use it. Its can be more trouble than it's worth. None of those fairies could have done this. They're not powerful enough, and I doubt they'd do it anyway. This is the work of an unregistered mind-warlock. And a powerful one at that."

The commander raised an eyebrow. "And you can tell all that from your brief observance of their behaviour? Pardon me for saying so, but isn't that jumping a little too rapidly to conclusions?"

Foaly sighed patiently. "I'm not finished yet Julius. When a fairy has been put, or is under mind control, their eyes start to glaze over. You get a milky film forming on the iris, which fades after about an hour of the controls being released. That lot had white irises. They've been under MC – mind control - for a very long time, a few days maybe. That takes a very powerful mind-warlock."

Holly groaned. So now they were up against a powerful warlock with strange powers, very sophisticated technology, and a potentially large army of thugs armed to the teeth. This was just getting better and better.

*****

I hope that was alright, and that it wasn't too short. I was gonna add a weenie bit more about… ooh, can't tell you, but I decided I'd shove it in at the beginning of the next chapter. Hope that was ok. It would only have been a couple of paragraphs more anyway.

As usual, I implore you, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLLLLLEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEEEE!!! review, 'cos I will love you forever, and ever, and ever… and if you have any questions at all about what has happened so far – I have a feeling that only I actually understand over half of this, and I really need everyone to know what I'm talking about, so just email me, OK? My address (for those that are too lazy/can't go to my author page) is flyingpurpletreefrog@hotmail.com. or just leave it in the review if you want, and I'll try and get back to you. I'm more likely to do it if it's an email though. Just thought I'd say all that.

Have a nice week/however long it takes me to update! Bye!

Luv slime xxxx


	9. Prey to be hunted

**__**

A/N: Hey everybody! As I said in the review I left, here I am again. Just to warn you all, I really don't know when I'm gonna get time to write and update, 'cos I'm getting incredibly huge amounts of homework at the minute, and it's all very stressy, so I will update whenever I can. I will try, of course, but I can't promise that the new chapters are going to be very regular.

Just to let you know that this is my favourite part of the story coming up now, so I hope you enjoy it!

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: (and the part the spell-check hates…) Thanks to **Just a little critic, Kelti, Eleida, EMeraldQUeen, sindaaraniel** (love your name by the way…), **Ivycreeper** and **Red Moon Kree. **Thank you all! I looooooooooove you! Also, would people please desist from asking me questions about what's gonna happen, and stuff about Basil/Holly/the Eye. All will be explained in due course. Just be patient. I am throwing in clues, you know… in two/three chapters times you will have the answer to these questions. Not exactly the plot questions, but still… so stop badgering me! you will find out soon enough *looks mysterious*.

****

ANOTHER, MORE IMPORTANT A/N: For those of you who aren't daughters of furniture makers (well, designer really, but anyway…) veneered MDF is pulped wood with a sort of skin. You cut pretty wood up into really thin strips, then glue it on the MDF to make it look nice –MDF on its own isn't that pretty. MDF isn't that strong – it's perfectly strong enough for furniture, but if you were, for instance, shooting at it, it wouldn't last. I shall say no more. Now go read! ------------

*****

Root stood up, his legs cramped from squatting down too long. Damn that centaur and his over-long explanations… "Right," he said matter-of-factly. "Let's take stock, then we can get on with the mission in hand." 

It was LEP procedure to do this in situations like that. It was important that you knew what you had to fight with. Many a battle had been lost in times gone by because the parties had failed to look at the extent and quality of their resources. LEP officers were trained to do this automatically – they kept tabs on their energy and magic levels at all times without even having to think about it.

"First: magic. I completed the ritual only a month ago, so I'm running red hot. Obviously, Foaly has no magic. What about you, Captain?"

Holly made a face. "The last time I did it was in the Arctic, sir. Since then I've had to use…" She glanced at the scar on her right index finger. "…quite a lot… I'd say I'm about half-full."

Root nodded. He'd expected as much. "Ok, next: energy levels. It's been thirteen hours since I last slept, so I'm probably good for another few at least. Foaly?"

The centaur screwed up his face, thinking about it. Sure, he could hack into the most complex security networks in, or under the world in a matter of seconds, but unlike the two elves, he hadn't been trained at this kind of thing. They didn't teach you how to predict exactly how long it would be before you collapsed from exhaustion at techie-school. Tapping a few keys every now and then wasn't exactly classified as strenuous exercise. He gnawed at the inside of his cheek for a moment, earning himself an exasperated sigh from Holly.

"Well… I reckon I could stay alert for another four/five hours… but all this action? I don't know… an hour, maybe two."

Root forced his mouth into a courteous smile. "Thank you Foaly" he said from between gritted teeth. He turned to Holly. "And you, Short?"

She bit her lip. "I'm not doing that great there either." she confessed. "I've been awake for about twelve and a half hours, and I'm probably gonna be 'feeling the fatigue' some time soon. Two/three hours maybe. Adrenaline should keep me going for a while after that, but I don't know how long."

Root exhaled slowly. Why did it always seem like he was the one presented with the worst odds? What had he done to deserve it?

He heaved a big sigh. "Right then. Personnel count of three." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Could be worse. Just about. We have one full fairy, one half full, and one completely empty. We've got about two or three hours before someone's concentration starts to slip, and we haven't got much firepower – three lasers, with, as far as we're concerned, no limitations in the energy department. Again, could be worse. None of us are what you would call 'suitably dressed', especially not the captain here," Holly coloured slightly. "but there you go."

He paused to ensure that everyone remembered. It was imperative that they all knew what each other were capable of. When he'd judged that they'd had enough time, he took a breath to continue.

"Right then… plan. We're going to split up into three teams, one in each, obviously. We will then proceed to sweep the manor – radiating from the ballroom – and disable, disarm and disconnect any goblins from their colleagues. Now, I don't want any consciences getting in the way on this one." Holly stared at her feet, knowing, out of Foaly and herself, whom this was aimed at. "Sneak up on 'em, and shoot 'em in the back if that's what it takes to get rid of them. We don't have the time, the resources or the personnel for heroics. Do I make myself clear?"

They nodded. Didn't he always?

"Good." Root grunted, reaching his hand to his ear to activate his communications device. Seeing the meaningful look on his face as he did so, Holly and Foaly quickly did the same. "I want constant contact to be maintained, understood? At no point do you turn these off. If you want a bit of quiet time, tough. You're going to have me yelling in your ear all the way through this whether you like it or not. We have to work as a team if we're to have so much as a chance of survival. Got that?" They nodded meekly. "Excellent. Now then… Foaly, you go south-east, Holly, west, and I'll go north-east." They turned to go. "Oh, and, um…" Root paused, searching for the right thing to say. "Just be careful. Both of you." He forced a smile. "Good luck. You'll need it."

Holly grinned slightly. Was this… care coming from the commander? She turned to leave, calling over her shoulder as she went: "Look after yourselves boys." And before she could be dragged back to receive a reprimanding lecture from the commander for her cheek, she had disappeared into the manor.

****

ELSEWHERE…

The Eye cursed silently to himself as the reports flooded back to him. Stupid goblins! Couldn't they do anything on their own? Subtly, so that he would not appear to those in the room to be talking to himself, he hissed angry orders into the throat-mike concealed by his shirt collar. He was going to have to leave to sort this out. Those goblins were going to wish they had never been born when this was over… If there was one thing he hated, which there wasn't, there were many, but if there was just one, it was a minion that couldn't follow orders. One would have thought that when one had spent so much time and care over putting the idiots under mind-spells, they would at least have been able to do a simple job. The All-Seeing-Eye sighed melodramatically. Life as a hugely successful criminal was just _so hard…_

Much as it would have been fun to sweep dramatically from the room with a look of thunder on his face, the Eye knew that if there was ever a time for sneaking round one's own home, this was it. Casually he strolled to the doors, innocent look gracing his handsome features, and slipped through them when he judged no one to be paying particular attention. Many of the officers seemed to be fighting a lost battle with the alcohol in their systems. The Eye had been enjoying watching one pair – a cocky-looking sprite with one of his wings heavily bandaged, and a blonde corporal – getting rather more friendly than one would have thought appropriate in a working environment.

The second he was through the opening, however, the smile vanished from his lips, to be replaced by a furious scowl.

"This had better be good." he snarled into his microphone, striding aggressively towards the control room. "Now I want you to tell me what happened once again, but _slowly _this time, and without the babbled excuses that prevented the message from being deciphered previously. Do you think you can manage that?"

The goblins on the other end cringed at his acidic sarcasm. They nearly tripped over their tongues with their babbled affirmatives. He couldn't help but role his eyes. Goblins truly were the most mentally challenged creatures in all existence. Even stink worms had a higher IQ than them. It wasn't exactly a hard thing to achieve…

There was a respectful, albeit terrified silence from the goblins. The Eye ground his teeth. "_Well?_" he snapped, livid at their stupidity. "When someone asks you a question, you _answer_ it!"

There was the sound of someone swallowing their own tongue in fear. A brief argument along the lines of "Tell him then!" "No, _you_, you're the one he was asking" and "Why me? It's _your_ turn…" followed.

The All-Seeing-Eye lost his cool. "YOU IDIOTS!" he screamed. "JUST GET ON WITH IT!"

"Right… three of the LEP officers came out into the southern antechamber, heard Bozor's squad talking, sneaked up on 'em, and busted the whole lot. Three lasers and three of those ear-piece things have gone walk-about, and we reckon they probably took 'em. The three then managed to take out the other two squads at the other two doors. Someone from Krraben's group managed to get a description."

The Eye sighed patiently. "And that description was…"

"Oh… right… he said there was one centaur in a dinner jacket, one fat, red-faced elf in a dinner jacket, and one little girl elf in a pretty purple dress, with orangy/brown hair, and a flower on her head… it was a -"

"Little girl elf?" the Eye interrupted, gritting his teeth to keep his temper from exploding again. It was so typical of male goblins to focus only on the female in the group, then not even give tell him clearly if she was an adult or not… "Do you mean a child?"

"Er…" The goblin paused, and there was a murmur in the background as he struggled to get his facts straight.

"She wasn't a child… definitely a woman, if you know what I mean…" This was a new, much more confident, and in this instance, bawdy voice. The Eye's features formed into a disdainful expression. He did not appreciate _that kind of humour_ at times like this.

"So she was small?"

"Yeah, short and slim… just the way I like 'em actually…"

The Eye chose to ignore this revelation. So… Foaly the technical consultant, and two elves… He had a pretty good idea who they could be…

His face hardened. "Whatever happens, they cannot go back in the ballroom to warn all their little friends. Understand?" The goblins nodded, until they realised the Eye couldn't see them, and vocalised their agreement. "Kill the centaur and the male elf. I don't care how you do it, just kill them. But the female elf… I want you to kill her too, but…" He smiled slowly, and the goblins could almost feel the decrease in temperature. "…slowly. Make her scream in pain. I would enjoy hearing that very much."

Before the goblins could reply, the Eye turned off his com-unit. He smirked in satisfaction. "You see, Holly?" he muttered to no one as pulled a nasty-looking weapon from his dinner jacket, and viciously powered it up. "I'm over you!"

*

"Progress report Captain?"

The hardware in Holly's com-unit buzzed, transmitting the gravelly tones of the commander to her eardrum.

She cast her eyes around her for a moment, checking there was no sign of any goblins about that could hear and then attack her before answering him.

"Doing ok. My head's still attached to my neck, which is good. So far, I've come across thirteen goblins. I managed to take out eight, but five got away. I don't know where they went. The goblins I've been meeting all seem to come in groups of three or four. What about you?"

The commander sounded puzzled. "It seems like you're getting a lot more of 'em than me." She couldn't help but notice a hint of jealousy in his tone. "I've only bumped into three of the little buggers, two in a pair, and one going solo. All are now snoring in the carpet…"

Foaly's sardonic chuckle came over the airwaves and Holly's lips curved into a grin as she laughed quietly. Root could be so full of himself sometimes. He tried to make it sound casual, but it really didn't work. It just made it more obvious.

Something suspiciously like a growl escaped the commander. "So Foaly?" he snapped. "How many have _you_ managed to bag?"

The centaur could be heard clearing his throat. "Well, technically we're not bagging them sir, that entails actually stuffing them into sacks… What we're actually doing is - "

"Shut-up Foaly, and just tell me what I asked!"

Holly could almost see Root strangling the air.

"Which sir? It isn't physically possible for me to 'shut-up' as you so elegantly put it, _and_ talk at the same instance in space and time. Which would you prefer, your holiness?"

Holly sniggered rather more loudly than she had meant to. She cringed slightly as the commander's rage washed over her.

"While you're giggling away _Captain_," She opened her mouth to protest that she had not been _giggling_, but thought better of it. "_Some_ of us are trying to be serious here!" he roared.

"Sorry sir." she mumbled, before biting her lips together to prevent the gales of laughter escaping.

The commander grumbled slightly, his acceptation of her apology. "Foaly?" he said coldly. "I'm waiting."

Foaly gave a half chuckle. "Right you are, Commander. Oh, by the way Holly, glad to see my jokes are still doing it for you…" It sounded as if Root was on the brink of exploding. Foaly quickly got on with it. "Er… well, I met four, and got 'em all, no problems there. They were in one pair, and two solos. Maybe you're just lucky, Holly…"

She half-chuckled, half sighed softly. "Probably." she agreed bitterly. "Knowing my particular brand of 'luck'…"

Root cleared his throat. "If you two are finished reminiscing on the cards fate have dealt you, maybe we could - " He was cut off by the sound of crossfire.

"Foaly?" he breathed, not daring to make too much sound.

"Not me, Commander."

"Holly!" he hissed, worried about the lack of communication. "Holly! What's your status?"

"A little busy at the moment, sir…" she said, her voice strained. They heard her breathing get heavier and heavier, as the noise of the shots increased.

"D'Arvit!" she swore, desperation and fear creeping into her tone. "There are too many of them! They just keep coming and coming…"

Root sucked in a breath. "Ok Holly, don't panic. Where are you?"

They heard her gasp in pain as something, or someone hit her. "Near the swimming pool I think - take the second right, and follow the smell of chlorine."

He raised his weapon. "Alright, we're coming. Find some cover until we get there. You can't hope to take on that many on your own. Just hang on for a few minutes Holly, we'll be there soon."

"Thanks." Holly sounded relieved inspite of herself.

She was far from happy, however, with the recent turn of events. This would provide the council with a perfect excuse for her permanent suspension from recon – first, seen in a _dress_, then being at a disadvantage because of that, and now this… unable to carry out her duty. It just wasn't fair.

There were now in excess of a dozen goblins surrounding her. Holly looked around, trying to quell the panic and fear bubbling up inside her chest. There was no cover anywhere in sight. Luckily, the goblins seemed to have forgotten what you did next when you had surrounded your prey and you had guns, so they weren't shooting at her. Yet. Holly didn't like they way they were looking at her… it was almost as though she were a wild animal caught in a trap that they were planning to torture. She felt strangely _hunted_. It wasn't a great feeling.

Captain Short wasn't too keen on starting to use her weapon in case it reminded her captors of their own. Her eyes spun desperately around the room, searching for a spot she could have missed… There! The door to the pool area… there was bound to be _somewhere_ she go in there…

Bringing her gun up, she blasted a hole in the ranks, and before they could close the gap, she sprinted through, ploughing straight into the door, expecting it to yield before her. It didn't. It was locked. Holly whirled, knocking out the goblins closest to her with hastily aimed shots. Where the hell were Root and Foaly? She spun round again, backed up a bit, and slammed her foot into the lock. It popped open. Terrible security. But then again, it was only a swimming pool…

She slammed the door behind her, pressing her back against it to keep it closed. Panting, she surveyed the room. It was very big. In the centre, a large pool glittered slightly under the electric light, as the water within it rippled gently. The remainder of the room was tiled, and the odd potted palm was dotted around for effect. There was no cover.

Holly swore. The goblins had finally got their act together, and were shooting at the door. It was made of veneered MDF. It wouldn't last a minute. The shocks from the impact of the blasts were transferred straight from the door into her back. She had about ten seconds before the charges sank directly into her flesh.

She thought fast. There was a door on the opposite side of the room… she estimated it to be a fifty metre dash away, round the perimeter of the pool. She would never make it. But what other choice was there? Surely she had to try. She would be dead in a matter of seconds if she didn't.

Holly took a deep breath. It was now or never… Bracing herself against the wood, she pushed off as hard as she could, sprinting for all she was worth along the white tiles.

*

Root and Foaly met in the spot the three had parted from. Together, they followed the directions Holly had given them, passing the unconscious goblins as they went. Neither spoke – they were both too worried about the captain.

As they came to the turning, they heard Holly swearing over the headsets. She didn't sound at all confident in her ability to stay alive. There was the sound of more shots, and assorted shouting that echoed strangely.

Centaur and elf looked at each other for a moment, then ran hell-for-leather in the direction they knew she had taken. Suddenly, they heard Holly give a small shriek of surprise, followed by a loud splash.

They skidded to a halt. "Holly!" exclaimed Foaly. "Holly! Are you ok?" Nothing but static. "D'Arvit, Holly, _answer_ me!" he yelled in desperation.

Root shook his head. "The line's dead. She can't hear or answer you. We've lost her." He gritted his teeth in determination. "For now. Don't worry pony-boy, she won't be having a break from us for very long. We'll get her back."

Foaly nodded. He bloody well hoped so.

*****

Ok, ok, I know cliffies are evil, but I can't help it! It's just too tempting! It also helps ensure you keep coming back for more… muahahahahaha!!!!!

So. *big sigh* Another chapter done. ANNNNNND I've already started chapter 10! Oh yes! I have 

written 700 words already! Ok, really can't think of anything intelligent to write, so I shall conclude 

with my usually pathetic plea for REVIEWS!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW 'COS I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!!! 

And ever, and ever, and ever… right then, so until next time my friends…

POWER TO THE MUSHROOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT! and may they rule the Earth as they rightly should.

Luv slime xxxx (aka the joint empress of the mushrooms and the green and yellow paint) ^_~ bye!


	10. Visions

**__**

A/N: Hello again! I'm so sorry I've been so long in getting this one up, but you know how it goes… and anyway, I've been having a massive huge great big load of coursework and homework, and I am sleep deprived. Not that I'm making excuses or anything… ;) but we finish school on Wednesday, so then I can write my little twisted, deluded heart out. *sighs happily* oh, the pure joy…

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter, and if I don't update before the 20th, * sings* happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me-e, happy birthday to me! *clearsthroat* Ahem, and if I don't update by the 25th, HAPPY CHRISTMAS! And to those who don't celebrate it, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Can I stop already??????

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: Thank you again to every one who reviewed! Thanks to **EMerald QUeen, Rosie the Rubix Cube, seambowle**r (or are you in fact my elusive second or so cousin???), **The Oracle, Sinadaaraniel, Italiangur3**1 and **Kelti**. I love you all. Thank you.

The story…

*****

Holly skidded about half a metre on the slippery floor as she dashed round the corner of the pool. Goblin projectiles hissed through the air around her, bouncing off the smooth surfaces. It hit her all at once that she would never make it through the door. She'd get gunned down before she even touched the handle. But all she could do was keep running.

She veered towards the water, dodging the laser bursts that were getting more and more accurate. One of the shots went askew, smashing into the tile under her left foot, sending it spinning out of place. She stumbled as her balance was thrown to the right, slipped on the floor, and with a small shriek, crashed through the surface of the pool with a large splash.

It took her a few precious seconds to get her bearings; namely which way was up. In a tangle of hair, dress, and limbs, that wasn't exactly easy. She floundered for a moment, trying to get her legs and arms free. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she was able to propel herself to the surface, and broke through it, gasping desperately for air. Her head whipped round, causing her wet, and now loose tresses to fly into her eyes. _'**This** is why I don't have long hair!'_ she thought irritably as she shook it out of her face, continuing her scan of the goblins' position and status.

For the moment, they had stopped shooting. Stunned by her sudden taking to the water, they weren't quite sure what to do next. Holly decided that it might be a good idea to take advantage of their temporary confusion, and get the hell out of there. There were steps out of the pool at the far end, where her destination lay. All she had to do was swim, then it wouldn't be too hard to get out the door with all her body parts present and intact.

Holly gritted her teeth, and smirked grimly. All she had to do was swim… that was the thing about electro-charged weapons – if you shot at a body of water, and the power weakened slightly and spread across the whole thing. The shocks wouldn't kill her, just give her a painful jolt. They would hardly have to even aim.

She ducked under the water again, pushing off from the side. The chlorine made her eyes sting but she kept them open. That was one of the advantages of being a fairy – they could see clearly under water, not like the blurred mish-mash humans were limited to. This was because they had descended from water spirits, and their cousins were the Merfolk. It didn't stop chemicals from making their eyeballs tingle though.

Holly swam along the bottom of the pool, her hair floating in clouds around her head. D'Arvit, she had known that eazy-grow stuff of Carmen's had been a bad idea. She felt the first of the shocks as the goblins finally got their act together, and started shooting into the water. Her face twisted in pain as the electricity raked through her body. She swam faster, feeling her air beginning to run out. There was only about ten more metres left, but it felt like a million miles…

Then, things took a rather drastic turn for the worse. One of the goblins had a different type of gun. It was much, much nastier than the lasers. And its bullets were as solid as rocks. Unfortunately for Holly, the goblin in possession of the weapon was also the best marks-man in the entire squad.

She felt a sharp, agonising pain in her side as the missile sank into her midriff, and she jerked back out of her stroke as the pang caused her stomach muscles to convulse, making it impossible for her to swim. She sank slowly to the bottom, curled up as the pain tore through her middle. Slowly, she felt something being sucked away from her. At first she didn't know what it was, but then she realised. It was her magic! Something was draining the power right out of her.

However, along with the pain, came the irresistible urge to let go of her now weak grip on consciousness. Tendrils of numbness were eating away at her mind, and Holly knew she wouldn't last much longer. She hit the bottom gently, and her eyes closed as her consciousness slipped away from her. Her body relaxed, and unclenched as her auburn locks floated gently back and forth, partially hiding her now still face.

~

The goblin grinned smugly. As usual he had hit his mark perfectly. Well, almost. He'd actually been aiming for the elf's neck, but he hadn't taken the refractional properties of the water into consideration, mainly because he didn't even know they existed, and the shot had hit her in the side. The thug shrugged. Who cared? It had the same effect. And from what he could see through the rippling water, it had done all that it had been designed to do…

"Sir," crowed the goblin into his mike. "We got 'er."

From the control room, the All-Seeing-Eye growled menacingly. "You mean you just _killed_ her?" he snapped. "After I _ordered_ you not to unless it involved maximum suffering?" He sounded, and was, incensed. "You idiots! You're going to wish -"

"But sir –"

"Don't you _dare_ interrupt me, you -"

"WE DIDN'T KILL HER!" a particularly brave goblin managed to shout over the Eye's tirade of furious threats.

"Excuse me?" he hissed, his voice filled with deadly venom. "What do you mean, you didn't kill her?"

The particularly brave one seemed to have forgotten how to speak. Another took over the explanation. "Well… Craaben hit her with the MS when she was under the water, and now she's not moving any more. But she isn't dead." he added hurriedly. "Just knocked out."

The Eye gave an exasperate sigh. "Well then get her out of the water!" he said. "Before she drowns! Where's the fun in that?"

The goblins promptly did as they were told. It was the most sensible thing to do. The Eye's lips curved into a sly smile. He had a plan for Holly…

"When you have her, go through the door by the steps, towards the kitchen." The goblins couldn't help but notice he sounded a lot more cheerful. "I have a little idea…" His voice hardened again, his customary bad temper returning. "And be quick, before the narcotics wear off. You don't want her to wake up, do you?"

Although the goblins said nothing, they agreed unanimously. They certainly did not.

*

The commander took point as he and Foaly sneaked up behind the goblins in the passage. There had to be at least fifteen of them in total – though being that there was a variation in the states of consciousness among the thugs, only about ten of these were still 'operational'. The rest were evidence of Holly's struggle to gain the upper hand. Root was quite impressed despite himself. She had done well to take down five considering the circumstances.

Luckily for the elf and the centaur, the goblins were far too busy enjoying the spectacle going on in the room beyond the door, and were all crammed together in the opening, with their backs to the two. How stupid could you get? They'd even heard Holly calling for reinforcements, for heaven's sake.

Silently, they positioned themselves squarely in the middle of the corridor, raising their weapons to aim at the backs of the idiots before them. Root gave Foaly the signal, and half of them were down before they even turned around. They saw the remaining five's eyes widen, show a flicker of recognition ('oh look, it's the two guys, not the girl'), then panic slightly as they fumbled with the settings of their lasers, bumping the power level up from enough to stun, to enough to kill. Yet another big mistake. They were all knocked out before you could say 'Atlantean stink balloons'.

Their friends on the other side of the door, it seemed, weren't particularly keen to get involved. Instead, they hauled the unconscious elf from the water and dragged her through the very door she had been aiming for as fast as they could.

By the time Root and Foaly had managed to get across the space, and had peered through the opening, there was no one in sight. Caution, however, could not be abandoned. The two crept into the room, lasers cocked and ready to go at the slightest sign of trouble. They edged around the perimeter of the pool, each scanning the water for any sign of Holly. This would explain the splash they had heard earlier. They reached the steps at the far side of the pool, when Foaly gave a small shout of exclamation, and darted towards the steps.

"Julius!" he called, forgetting the correct form of address for his boss. "Look, there, floating in the shallow bit!"

Root sprinted over, then slowed down when he saw what Foaly was pointing at. Floating by the handrail was the purple imitation rhododendron flower Holly had used to hold back her hair. The commander reached into the water, and lifted it up.

The moment his skin made contact with the liquid, his vision blacked out, to be replaced by an image of Holly. Root found he couldn't move, and watched helplessly as in slow motion, he saw her legs going like pistons as she ran hell-for-leather round the edge of the pool. He saw the tile smash, and his officer crash through the surface of the water. His vision plunged with her, following her movement, and rushed up to give a close-up of her face. He began to feel sick. This was worse than a pod ride…

He saw the panic in her eyes, then time speeded up, and in a blur of motion, she writhed about, shot through the surface, and tore off under the water again. Root was dragged along with her. Somehow, he felt the electric shocks, and saw Holly flinch whenever one hit her. Suddenly, he shot closer, so that he seem to be right next to her, and time slowed to a crawl again. He saw the strangely shaped bullet plough steadily through the water, heading straight for Holly's side, and saw it plunge into her body. He tried to do something, but he was paralysed, unable to help her. He saw the pain, then the confusion, then the lethargy as she sank into blackness. His own vision darkened, and with a sickening jerk, he was hauled back to reality.

"Commander?" Foaly whinnied worriedly. "Julius! What is it?"

Root groaned, and slumped forward from where he had been forced to his knees, his head resting on the cool tiles in an attempt to soothe the splitting pain in his cranium. He had one blinder of a headache already.

"Just give me a sec, Foaly…" he managed to mutter, trying to calm his racing pulse. The centaur folded his four legs awkwardly as he sank down to the other fairy's level.

"What the hell happened, Julius?" he asked, concerned.

"I don't know, D'Arvit!" Root growled, giving Foaly a look that clearly added 'you idiot' to the previous statement. "It's not everyday that you suddenly start seeing your officers dying on the bottom of swimming pools whilst wearing dresses!"

Foaly looked confused. "I didn't know you had visions…"

Root glared at him. "I don't" he snapped. 

Foaly was about to open his mouth to voice another of his crackpot theories, no doubt, when the full implication of what the elf had said hit him. He paled, and dread tainted his eyes. "You had a vision of Holly dying?" he breathed, his voice coming out in an uneasy stutter. "Are you… I mean… how…" He had to stop, for fear his shock and potential grief would burst out.

Root sat up again, rubbing his eyes. "No… not dying. I think she was knocked out, or something. She got shot in the waist, she stopped swimming, she sank to the bottom and then I had the pleasure of hearing your lovely voice."

Foaly couldn't help but sigh with relief, and a smile touched his mouth. Then his techie-side kicked in. "Type of gun?"

Root shook his head. "Classification; unknown. All I saw was the bullet… and I've never seen bullets like that before…"

The centaur looked like he was on the verge of a mental break-through. "Describe it…" he said vaguely, thinking hard.

The commander screwed up his face, trying to remember clearly. "It was very strangely shaped – not cylindrical like the standard solid projectile. It was spherical – with a slightly pointed end at the back. It had tiny 'fins' on the sides, as if to guide it in a certain way… But the strangest thing was that when it was about 30cm away from impact with Holly's body, three little…" He struggled for a way to describe it. "…prongs pushed their way out from the blunt end. It may just have been me, or the vision messing with my head, but when it was about 10cm from impact, a spark of blue light broke away from Holly, and was caught between the prongs. Then, when it was about 5cm away, it…" Again, he had difficulty expressing what had happened. "… parted the material of her dress. It was as though the thread in that particular area just unravelled to let the bullet through. It sealed up almost immediately, but before it did I saw the thing slow down, and push its way through the skin. Basically, there wouldn't have been enough momentum to propel it out the other side."

"So…" continued Foaly. "Its still in her."

Root nodded. "Basically, yeah."

The techie put his head on one side, and looked thoughtfully at his boss, confused. "And how come you could see all this, if it was a bullet being shot from a gun?" He grinned. "Those things move pretty damn fast."

The commander glared at him. "I know that. I forgot to mention that that part of the vision was in slow motion. There was a variation with the time speed… ordinary, fast-forward and slow motion were all in there. It seemed to be skipping the less-important bits, and slowing down the most."

Foaly was nodding, understanding shining in his eyes. "I think I know what our mystery firearm is… and I don't think you're gonna like it at all… I'm pretty sure Holly was hit with a 'Magic Stealer', or an MS as its known in the trade."

The commander failed to produce the mortified reaction Foaly had anticipated. "What the hell is that?"

The centaur decided to let it drop this one time. "An MS is a solid-missile firearm-"

"How about you tell me what I don't already know?"

Foaly glared at him. "I was getting to that… Anyway, an MS is a solid missile firearm, that is designed to rob a fairy of his, or her magic. Very useful when your opponent has a warlock who's interferrin' with what you're trying to do. Now, they do this by parting any material, living or non-living that stands between them and the magic source. It can get really messy when you have non-magical, or drained beings in the way… they just part the actual flesh, like you saw that one doing to Holly's dress to get through. That's why they are still being tested and developed. Anyway, next, the three prongs that you saw proceed to attract and collect all the power the fairy posses at that given moment, and collect it, locking it away in the sphere. This means that it is no longer accessible, and the fairy can't use it to heal, or anything like that."

The centaur paused for breath, and to give the elf a chance to get his head round the whole thing, before he continued. "The storage device, called the chamber, remains in the body of the fairy, under the skin. It stays there until another fairy, usually from the opposite side, touches that fairy's skin, and the magic is transferred into them. They then use an electro-magi device to extract the chamber. If you get the chamber out within half an hour, it does no damage, but longer, and the internal chemical balance is shot. Can take months to get over. We need to get it out of Holly A.S.A.P."

Root nodded slowly. "Right… got all that…"

Foaly breathed a secret sigh of relief. Hopefully he'd stay un-dismembered for a little longer then. The commander tended to get angry when you confused him. "So… that's the function. Now, there are also the extras… Fairies with magic sometimes experience flash backs or visions of what happens, caused by residual charges. As you, I'm sure, noticed, Holly lost consciousness pretty quickly. This is because there are strong, but very temporary narcotics that get released when the chamber starts suckin'. These are mainly to stop the fairy from fighting the pull on their magic, but also so the person after their power can get close enough to get it. It only lasts about five minutes though, so Holly should be coming round any minute now."

Root was silent for about a minute. "And I haven't heard about this mean-magic-stealin'-machine before because…"

"Well sir… it's still in the implementation and testing stage at the weapons labs, so only us few privileged and respected techies get told about them. I just didn't think you'd be interested in all that 'crap' as you would no doubt, so elegantly put it."

He nodded grudgingly. "Well… I suppose you have a point… Anyway, we need to find Holly as quickly as possible. Who knows what those goblins are doing to her…"

The pair stood up, both wincing slightly at the stiffness in their legs. On closer examination of the area around the steps, they saw a faint and quickly drying smear of wetness that seemed to be heading for the door behind them. Drawing their weapons warily, they proceeded towards it. This was getting really repetitive – going through doors, weapons out, to try and rescue Holly…

Cautiously, they sneaked up to the door, and finding it slightly ajar, edged through it. The space beyond it was completely empty. The commander cursed, and he and Foaly began to look for clues. Again.

Suddenly, they heard a door slam up ahead, and the sound of footsteps running away. The two fairies shot a glance at each other, before sprinting towards the source of the noise.

*****

I know, I know… cliffy. And they are all very similar… the chapters all seem to end with them charging down some corridor or other, or bursting through some door or other… hopefully I will be able to think of better endings next time. It isn't really that hard…

Anyway, the next chapter should be up soon, seeing as I finish school in three days, as previously stated, and I shall see you all (well, not see you…) then. Bye!

Luv slime xxx

P.S.: oh yeah… and if the bot gets my other fic, the AFNS, I may have to put the bulletins at the end of Strictly Ballroom chapters. Just so ya know. Bye.


	11. Running out of options

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A/N: Hello again! Sorry it's been so long, but you know how it is… what with birthdays, and Christmas, and family about to pester you… ugh. So, anyway… here is the chapter at last. Crap title, again. The alternative name was 'Losing Holly' but I decided I liked this one better.

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: Thank you to **seambowler, Sindaaraniel, TrisaniSlytherin, EMerald QUeen, Artemis Fowl the Second, Eleida **and **crazygirly007**. I love you all!, Oh, and to what **TrisaniSlytherin** said in her review… 1) I know in the book Foaly wasn't at all impressed by the human communications network, but that's because of the wires. The fairies would still be using email, they just wouldn't need wires. That's my reasoning anyway. 2) Aha! Little do you know as yet… Basil Kobalde is a lot better at lying than you think, and there was more to it than you would know… being that you can't see into my head where it is all laid out… And anyway, living in a big city doesn't necessarily make you able to spot players and the like. Even Holly can be a fool sometimes. We all can, if you think about it… OK, sounding way too cheesy for words now… but thank you for your review, the hug, and the praise. It does wonders for my ego!

****

THE PROPER A/N: Hypothermia is when your body temperature is sub-normal – basically you get very cold. It can be very dangerous, and can kill you if you don't get warmed up in time. It also makes you behave in a non-normal way. Just keep all that in mind while you read this.

And now… what you've all been waiting for… or perhaps not… the story!

*****

Holly came to lying on her side, with an excruciating pain thrumming through her head. With great effort, she managed to turn over onto her back, and lay there panting as she took in her surroundings. She was lying on a very cold floor, which was covered with snowy frostings and hard ice. Everything else seemed to be white.

With a groan, Holly flipped over onto her stomach, and using arms that felt like the bones within them had been replaced by jelly, hefted her chest off the floor. She flopped down almost immediately. It was too much effort for the moment. It might have been easier if her clothes and hadn't been so sodden, adding extra weight. But why… how under earth had she gotten so wet? The fairy's brain snapped from sleepiness to full alert. The swimming pool! The last thing she could remember was swimming… then the electric shocks… then the gun, then her…

With a sinking feeling, Holly reached deep inside herself, and felt nothing. So it was true. Her power was gone. In vain, she tried to heal the small cut at edge of her hairline, but it wouldn't come. Nothing. Not even a twinkle. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to quell the panic that was fast threatening to cloud her mind. She needed to think, and think good and hard.

After a few fruitless attempts, she managed to drag herself onto all fours. She was shivering from the cold so much now that her teeth sounded like a band of drummers at a military parade. Her breath was billowing from her lips in white clouds. She forced herself onto her knees, arms wrapped round herself for extra warmth, and looked frantically about her. She was in a small square room, with shelves along the sides, and packages of some kind lining the walls. Everything was covered in a thick layer of frost.

On closer inspection of the 'packages', Holly discovered that the lumps on the shelves were actually frozen food. She was in a huge freezer, not unlike the large one that accompanied the kitchen that provided the food for the residents of the LEP holding cells. So, if this was a domestic facility, there would be a door…

There! Holly turned around, and saw that it had been behind her. She struggled to her feet, and staggered to it, letting herself fall against it, as her hand sought the handle. She found it, and giving an extra shove, turned it. The door didn't budge.

"No…" she whispered, despair threatening to overwhelm her. "No! Who locks their _freezer_? No, No, _NO!_"

A tear spilled unnoticed from her eye as she slammed herself into the door again and again. It was completely unresponsive. Not a millimetre. She had bruises all along that side of her body already, but she ignored the pain, and kept trying.

"Let me out!" she screamed to no one, throwing herself furiously against the obstacle.

It was useless. Her newly-pooled strength dwindled, and after a few more pounds, she let herself slide down the icy surface, and her tears flowed in a hot stream. It wasn't fair. Why was it always her?

Holly shook her head, trying to dispel the fuzzy feeling one got from being tired, cold and upset. This wasn't like her at all. Dissolving into tears the minute something didn't go her way! She pressed her forehead against the cold surface, letting the low temperature clear her mind. If she was going to get out of this, she needed to think calmly and rationally. If she just kept slamming herself into the door, she would eventually pass through it. It was a law of science.

She stood again, a little shaky in the legs, and looked the door up and down, assessing its attack capabilities. She reckoned she could take it. It was a big sucker, but it didn't look like it would put up much of a fight. She glared at it, then charged, going for the full body slam. No effect.

"Oh?" she asked it, swaggering back, ready for the next attack. "Well, let's see how you take this!" With a war-like cry, she sprinted up to it, and launched both her feet at it in a flying kick. She was knocked back by her own momentum, and landed in a heap on the floor. She didn't move, and seeing how stupid she had been to think she would have been able to break it down, she crawled into the corner farthest away from it, and made herself as small as possible.

Huddled into the knook between the walls, she fought to stay awake. Lethargy was coming in massive, overwhelming waves that covered her completely. Somehow she didn't feel cold anymore… She let herself slump down until she was lying on her side again, and uncurled from her ball, stretching out slightly. It was surprising how comfortable a floor could be… She shook her head, desperately trying to resist the sleep that was beckoning to her.

Unfortunately for Holly, once again, all the factors were against her. The freezer was chilled to below -20° C and she was wet. Perfect conditions for hypothermia to flourish and take hold in less than fifteen minutes. Add to that the fact that her strength was depleted, she had just woken up from a tranquilliser, prior to being shot, had no magic, and was rather sparsely clothed, that being the nature of evening dresses, and she was lucky to still be conscious. Already she had gone through the early and moderately serious stages… confusion, sleepiness, irrationality… and now she was being sucked into the final stage: unconsciousness, followed closely by death.

Luckily, it was at that moment that her rescuers managed to breach the door.

*

Root and Foaly arrived panting slightly where the trail of wetness ended. It disappeared under a thick, solid looking door, with a magnetic-strip-lock to the right of it, and the word 'FREEZER' on a tastefully subtle wooden plaque.

They glanced at each other, both knowing the risks associated with being too cold. The LEP didn't make it out to either of the poles that much anymore, but they were still kept well informed on conditions such as frostbite and hypothermia.

The commander checked the temperature on the small thermometer next to the frame. It read -23° C. Very bad. Foaly, meanwhile was examining the patches of water.

"From these, I'd say she's been in there about five, six minutes already." he said, sounding worried.

Root nodded. "Very low temp… and with what she's wearing being soaking wet, she'll be slipping away from us in about thirty seconds. We need to get in there now."

The centaur gritted his teeth, desperately worried about his friend. He stepped up to the strip-lock, examining it closely. He reached into his pocket for a tool, and began fitting the end into the screw holding the thing to the wall.

"Just give me a half a sec, and I'll take the cover off, then disable the main fra - "

"Stand back." growled the commander, and Foaly did as he was told. Bringing his laser up and aiming it in one fluid movement, the elf sent a concentrated blast of light into the system. The door popped open, the lock smoking gently.

Foaly squinted at it. "Well, there's always that way…"

But his boss wasn't listening; he had already stepped through the threshold, and was squinting into the sudden whiteness. The centaur joined him, calling Holly's name nervously.

Then he spotted her, huddled in the far corner behind a shelf. "Holly!" he yelled, sliding along the floor towards her as quickly as he could, falling ungracefully to his knees next to her. "Holly… Holly are you OK?"

The captain struggled to focus on his face. "Hey donkey." she said weakly. Her eyes flickered to the ruddy features of her commander. "Sir." She frowned slightly. "What took you two so long…"

"Look, we're sorry about that, OK?" said Root, trying to hide his concern, so he wouldn't worry her. He patted her cold hand. "And anyway, we're here now." He smiled shakily, and Holly's lips also curved slightly as her eyes closed. She gave a peaceful sigh, and her face seemed to relax.

Foaly saw what was happening to her, and grabbed her wrist, squeezing it hard. "No, no, sweetheart, don't go to sleep." he said, his urgency now making itself obvious.

Captain Short's eyes flickered open, and she gazed dazedly up at him.

Foaly forced a weak grin for her. "That's it darlin'. Keep 'em open for me, there's a good girl." He turned to Root. "We need to get her out of here _now_. If we don't warm her up in the next few minutes, we'll lose her."

The other fairy nodded. The centaur gently scooped Holly up, cradling her in his arms, and struggled to his feet under her weight. The commander saw the problem, and gave an exasperated sigh.

"C'mon, Pony-boy. There's no time for all that romantic crap now! Just sling her over your shoulder, or better yet, give her to me. I'm stronger than you."

Foaly shook his head. "There is a reason for this method you know. She's fragile at the moment, and is in contact with more areas of my body, so is going to get more of my warmth. She needs it, Julius."

The elf sighed. "Fine. Just give her here though."

Foaly complied, letting Root slide one arm under Holly's knees, and the other under her shoulders, shifting the weight to him. The stricken officer barely even noticed her transferral, and merely huddled closer to the new source of warmth. She moaned slightly as the commander hefted her up a bit, into an easier position, and then settled back down.

Foaly raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were so good at all the 'romantic crap' sir!" he said, smirking. "You handle her like a pro!"

Root glared at him. "It's one of many hidden talents." he said, sarcasm cutting through his voice like a knife. He nodded to the door. "Now, if you wouldn't mind? Holly may be slim, but she's still heavy, especially when you're tired, and she's wet. Can we go, please?"

Foaly's answer was to draw his gun, and stride over to the entrance. He looked furtively out of the door, then, after confirming that the coast was clear, beckoned for the other two to follow him.

They slunk down three corridors, and around two bends, before Foaly judged it safe to stop. He paused outside an entrance, covering the two elves with his laser as Root, using his shoulder, pushed open the door, carrying Holly through.

Stooping, he laid her carefully on the floor, before running back to help the centaur. Luckily, they had not been followed, and there wasn't a goblin in sight. The two backed into the room, slamming the door shut as they went.

Root nodded to the handle. "Do your thing with the lock, techie boy. I don't want anyone bursting in on us. And please try to remember that we need to get out at the end, as well."

Foaly didn't even bother with a witty comeback. "Sure thing, Julius."

Satisfied, the commander returned to his fallen officer. He squatted down next to her, taking off his dinner jacket and draping it over her. Holly stared sleepily up at him. Her face was deathly pale, and her lips were a deep shade of blue-purple. Icicles nestled in her hair, not having had the time to melt yet. She did not look at _all_ healthy.

Root smiled at her, trying to keep the mood light, so as not to tire her even further. "How you doing?" he asked gently.

Her mouth fumbled with the words, struggling to get them out. "I-I, um, I'm ti - " She tried again. "I'm rea-really tir-tired." Her eyelids flickered, and she looked pitiful and pleading. "Why can't I g-go to sle-sle -" She paused for a moment, lips practising the word she had half-forgotten how to say. "Sleep?"

He bit the inside of his cheek, her speech deficiency awakening fresh worries in his mind. "I'm sorry, Holly, but you just can't, not yet." He sighed, thinking of a way to describe it so that it would be easy for her to understand. "We can't let you, because if you fall asleep now, you might never wake up, and we need you. OK?"

Holly's eyes closed for a second, and she tried to speak again.

"No, no… It's alright, Holly, don't try and talk. Just nod your head for me…" She did. "Atta girl. Now," he said, speaking to her as though she was a child, to keep it simple for her to comprehend. "We need to make you nice and warm again, because you've gotten way too cold." He forced a grin. "Then, if you're better, we can let you sleep for a little while, OK?" He didn't like lying to her, but if she remembered that the minute she was stable again, she'd back on her feet, and kicking goblin butt, she might just give up.

She nodded again. Root grinned shakily. "That's my girl. You just hang on in there for me and Foaly while we warm you up."

The aforementioned centaur clopped over, having secured the door to his satisfaction and all of Root's criteria. He sank down next to Captain Short, squeezing her hand for a moment, worried sick about her. He turned to the commander, concern etched in his brow.

"How's she doing?" he asked nervously, not sure he was ready for any bad news.

Root sighed again. "Not so good. She's barely hanging on, and if we don't do something straight away, we'll almost definitely lose her." He looked questioningly at Foaly. "Got any bright ideas, Pony?"

The centaur bit his lip. "Well… if we can just get her out of the manor, and to a local hospital, then I reckon she – "

"Not an option." Root cut in, shaking his head. "We'd never get past the goblins, and they'd never let us bargain for temporary release, even if it meant life or death. They're trying to kill us anyway. This just eliminates the captain without them having to lift a finger." He drew a hand over his eyes wearily. "Plan B?"

The centaur looked away, unable to meet his or Holly's eyes. "That's it. There is no 'Plan B'." he said quietly.

Root swore, and Captain Short grasped at Foaly's arm, confused. "What's going on?" she whispered, scared at their tones. Somehow, she seemed to have regressed to the level of a young child. It happened in fairies with hypothermia, but never this quickly or severely usually. But then, these were not usual circumstances.

"Don't worry Holly, everything's fine." said Foaly, holding her hand to try and reassure her.

Root rubbed his forehead. "But what about us… I mean, couldn't we do it, by, you know, transferring body heat? I dunno know… couldn't we both just lie down next to her, or something?"

The centaur shook his head sadly. "It wouldn't be enough to save her. And then there's your magic… but that won't work – magic repairs flesh, and this is, at the moment, a temperature issue. There's no physical damage your power could heal. I guess we could…" He stopped, looking curiously at the expression of enlightenment that had just crossed the commander's face. "What?" he asked suspiciously.

Root chewed his lip, glancing down at Holly before bringing his gaze up to meet Foaly's again. "Well…" he said slowly. "There's one thing we could try… but you ain't gonna like it."

The centaur braced himself for the worst. "Hit me."

*****

Ok, ok, I know… cliffy. *looks indignant* But at least they didn't charge through a door at the end! Anyway, hope everyone had a really good Christmas, and has a good New Year. I shall update… at some point. Oh, and before you write me a big fat flame, there were reasons why Root, Foaly and Holly were behaving like that. I shall now briefly explain them:

Holly: She was not well. She had hypothermia, which is the sole reason for her behaviour. I really don't know that much about hypothermia – I did some research, and I reckon fairies would react differently to it, especially those who had just been shot, etc… Don't worry. She'll get back to normal eventually.

Root: He isn't going to be yelling at Holly because she's about to die. And she's not herself, so he can't treat her like he usually does. Just think about it if you still think I'm wrong.

Foaly: One of his few friends is dying, so he's worried, and as Holly is like a child, he treats her like a child, which is why you get all the 'darling' 'sweetie' business. And anyway, it's not like he's never called her that before… But there will be a weenie bit about that in the next chapter – it shall all seem more natural then.

Right then, I have babbled enough, and I'm just realising how very fast I am typing…. Anyway, if you still don't get it, say in the review, and I shall attempt to explain it better in the next chapter/an email/an IM conversation. Whatever. So, I hope that chapter was OK, and I shall see you guys later!

Luv slime

PS: DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!


	12. Waking the dead

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A/N: I am very ashamed of myself. Very ashamed. It's been forever. But I'm back! *groans that are quickly turned into half-hearted cheers at slime's glare* and I will make efforts to get chapters up more often. But you really shouldn't expect too much… I have EVIL teachers who are trying to kill me (death by coursework/sleep deprivation/heavy sarcasm) and I am very stressed and very busy, and I don't have any free time any more. *sigh* but I will endeavour not to commit suicide, but keep writing! So here is the product of my latest efforts on the keyboard. Well, a little further down, but you know what I mean…

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: You guys… *wipes away tear* I got over 100 reviews, and it's all thanks to you. I would do a special 'name-all-the-reviewers-that-have-ever-been' but Friends is about to start, and I wanna get this posted. I know you understand. Therefore, I shall do the normal… Thanks to **Eleida, Becca, The Oracle, Carly, TrisaniSlytherin, seambowler, sindaaraniel, EMerald QUeen, skye** and **crazygirly007**. I love you guys… Feel free to review lots and lots of times, and feed my low-self esteem with much-needed flattery. *winks*

Right then… what you are actually here for… not my ramblings, that's for sure…

IN THE BALLROOM:

Corporal Lili Frond cast her eyes desperately around the semi-intoxicated mob in the hexagonal ballroom. Where the hell were Captain Short, Commander Root and Foaly? After five more minutes of fruitless searching, Frond decided she would have to ask somebody, even though she was meant to be being subtle.

Captain Kelp saw her heading towards him, and couldn't help letting his eyes slip casually up and down her figure. Tastefully short dress, showing off a nice bit of leg. No straps, revealing delicate shoulders, and a hint of cleavage. Blonde hair tumbling down the back…Trouble immediately reprimanded himself – Lili was a fellow officer, and deserved some respect. And anyway, he conceded, she didn't look as good as Captain Short. Sure, Frond was pretty… but there was just… something about Holly. From a professional point of view, obviously.

Trouble rubbed his forehead, the alcohol reducing his thoughts to a sluggish ooze. He really shouldn't have had all that wine… if you were going to get pissed, it was better to do it after all the formal stuff was over.

"Captain Kelp… I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

The corporal's voice dragged Trouble from his thoughts.

"Sorry…" he said dazedly. "… what was that?"

Lili's mouth twisted into the perfect pleading-damsel-in-distress smile. "Lope told me I had to get Captain Short, Commander Root and Foaly, and I can't find them anywhere! The speeches are going to start soon, and they really have to be here." She gave her eyelids a slight flutter, and stared innocently and sadly up at him. "You haven't seen them have you?"

Captain Kelp stumbled with the words, all eagerness to help. Lili smirked inwardly. It was just _so_ easy to get a guy to do what you wanted when you pulled a bit of feminine charm on them. The fact that the one before her was half-drunk really helped as well…

Trouble finally got his tongue under control. "I think they're all outside the room somewhere. Captain Short left, then Root went after her, then Foaly followed the two of them." He pointed to an exit. "They went through there."

The corporal smiled, relief and gratitude flooding her face. "Thank you so much. You're a life saver! But, you couldn't do me the biggest favour could you?" Kelp nodded. "Could you go get them for me? It's just, I really need to find some of the other officers, and check everything's OK…" She smiled again, half apologetically this time.

Captain Kelp unconsciously stuck out his chest. "Don't worry, I'll get 'em."

"Thank you. You're a star. I'll see you around, OK?"

And with that she left, leaving her quarry slightly stupefied. Trouble reluctantly collected his thoughts, and decided that he would give the three five minutes to re-appear, then go after them if they hadn't materialised.

While he was waiting, he thought, he might as well have a drink. He reached for another glass of wine, hand slightly unsteady. Stuff what it was best to do… if he got stoned now, he wouldn't have to listen to all those boring speeches…

****

IN THE ROOM NEAR THE FREEZER:

Commander Root took a deep breath. "There might be a way, using my magic, to bring Holly back. It's an ancient spell, and it hasn't been used for millennia… but it just might work. It involves me pouring all my magic into her. It's designed to kick-start her organs and get her vital functions working properly again. Thing is, I have to have the full consent of the victim and at least one witness, or the spell won't work. I think we can pretty much assume that Holly will have no problems with this, but I have to have your agreement. It's like the invite thing…"

He waited expectantly. Foaly looked confused. "So, you're going to re-start her organs? Julius, they're still working! We need to warm her up, before that becomes a problem!"

Root looked impatient. "That's what it's designed to do. But we can use the side affects. It was outlawed 3000 years ago because it was fatal – the intense flow of magical energy literally fried the victim. But we can use that… Holly's body temperature is too low, so hopefully it will just restore it to normal, or at least something she can stand."

Foaly shook his head slowly, disbelieve etched into his face. "Hopefully? What d'you mean, '_hopefully_'?"

Root glared at him. "I never said it was without risks. But if we don't do this, Holly will die anyway, so we might as well try!" He kept his mouth open to continue, but Foaly had something niggling at him.

"So how come I've never heard of this before? I'm pretty clued up on magic, non-magical that I am, and I sure as hell don't know anything about this one."

Root waved his hand impatiently. "Never mind that now… Let's just say I saw it the back-tunnels once, before your time. Not pretty. They had a choice though. We don't. I would like to remind you, pony-boy, that if she goes down, we go down too. There is no way I can take this manor on my own with a whiny centaur on my heels. Our lives, and possibly the lives of those in the ballroom, hang on whether she lives to fight. There's no time for doubts, Foaly."

The centaur got up and walked away, thinking hard. This wasn't something you could just decide, not when it was a friend. Essentially, her life was in his hands. And Foaly felt decidedly nervous with it.

Meanwhile, Holly's condition was worsening fast. She was losing her grip on life – barely hanging on by her fingernails. Her eyes were closing for longer, and at more frequent intervals. While the other two fairies had been arguing, she'd been drifting away. She petered on the edge, about to plunge into the blackness.

With no small effort, she opened her eyes again, and tried to say something. Her voice was barely a whisper.

Root dragged himself from glaring angrily at Foaly's pacing back, and gave his attention to the one all the arguing was about. He leaned closer so that his ear was near Holly's mouth to hear what she was saying.

Captain Short arranged her lips for the last words they would say. "I'm so sorry…" she croaked. "But I can't hang on. Goodbye Julius. Tell Foaly I'm sor-so-s…" Her voice died away, and her eyes shut. Her whole form went limp, and her head lolled to one side.

Root started, then grabbed her by the shoulders, and shook her, gently at first, but then more violently. "Holly!" he hissed. "Holly, keep you eyes open, D'Arvit!" No response. "Short! Come back now! Don't you think you can slink off when the going gets tough! Open your eyes now, missy, or you'll be out of Recon!" Even the threats didn't work. Holly's head just flopped from side to side like a doll's.

"D'Arvit!" swore Root, lying Holly back down, and checking her breathing on the back of his hand. "Foaly, I need a decision now. She's lost consciousness."

Foaly turned sharply, terror in his eyes. He cantered over to her, skidding to a stop.

"How long's she been out?"

"About thirty seconds. Feeling ready to make up your mind yet, hooves?"

Foaly turned away, desperately trying to come to the right decision. Root shook his head. "She's stopped breathing. Now, please. I don't want to administer the treatment for this condition unless I have to." He grabbed Holly's limp wrist, checking her pulse. It was barely detectable. He moved to the pulse point at her neck, where it would be stronger. "Her heart is beating slower and slower. Her body's going into automatic shutdown. Get on with it!"

Foaly turned back. "What are the risks, apart from her getting fried?"

Root shook his head again. "There's no time for that now Fo - "

The centaur wasn't having any of it. "What are they?" he growled.

Root sighed. "Worst case scenario, where she lives; there could be permanent brain damage for the two of us, but that's only a fifty-fifty chance."

Foaly was livid. "Brain damage? Only a 50% chance? Are you crazy? And what do you mean, 'the two of you'. I thought it was Holly who gets zapped."

Root was getting impatient. "Firstly; yes, brain damage. And yes, a 50% chance is good. It means we have a lot of hope. Thirdly; anything that happens to Holly's body happens to mine while I do it. So any risks apply to me as well. Can we get on with it?"

Foaly was getting desperate. "But it won't work! For it to do so, the magic has to be in a big 'lump', or it will just flow straight through her! That's what fairy magic does; it flows."

Root rolled his eyes. "I know that! It's possible to collect all your magic like that when 'the night equals the day'."

A light dawned in the centaur's eyes. "On one of the equinoxes…"

"Yes. And as it happens, it's the vernal equinox tonight, so I know it will work! Now, do I have you consent?"

Foaly made a split second decision. "Do it."

Root nodded. "Good. Now repeat after me: As a member of the magickal community, I pledge my support for this act, and give my word as a faerie that I have consented to this course of action."

Foaly said it, hesitating only slightly before looking at Holly's lifeless form.

"Thank you." said Root sarcastically. "Now before I do this, there is something you must understand. As a fairy with no powers, a flow of magic this big will kill you in a millisecond. If you touch Holly or I during the spell, the magic will be transferred right into you. Do you understand?"

Foaly nodded. Root felt he needed to make sure. "Under no account do you touch her or me. Even if she screams with pain, you stay back. I'll tell you when it's safe. Oh, and one more thing; just so you know, I may have to restrain her, so don't be alarmed. Whatever you do, let me finish. Have you got all that?"

Foaly nodded mutely, before asking his final question. "What do you mean, restrain her?"

Root bit his lip, eager to get on. But he felt he owed this explanation to him. "I won't lie to you. This is going to be the most painful thing Holly ever has to go through. When the pain gets too much, she won't be able to pass out, because of the magic, and she may try to break free. Ready?"

The centaur spread his hands, backing away. "She's all yours."

"Good." grunted the elf, flexing his fingers. Cautiously, he took Holly's hands in his, gripping them tightly. As he closed his eyes to feel for the magic, doubt flashed in his mind. What if he couldn't… but there was no time for any hesitation. He'd just have to hope that watching the events in that tunnel so many years ago would be enough. Learning a spell by seeing someone do it once, from a distance was not the most effective method. He shook his head. It was now or never.

Root reached inside himself, and clumsily scooped up all his magic. Sending a silent pray to anyone who was listening, he raised the ball of blue light, feeling it struggle in his grip. He forced it to remain still; mind over matter, as they say. Taking a deep breath, he began to force it down his arms. It was like trying to push a lump of rock down veins that had only ever channelled liquid. Painful, but not enough to slow him down. The ball of magic squeezed through his wrists, and in a flash of blue, began travelling up Holly's fingers.

Captain Short's eyes flew open the minute the magic touched her, and she gave a small whimper. Root stopped pushing for a moment, taken aback at how quickly she had regained consciousness.

Holly felt it. "Don't stop!" she gasped, gritting her teeth against the escalating pain. "I can take it. Just keep - " She convulsed in agony. " – going."

The commander hurriedly continued. Holly screwed up her face, biting right through the skin on her lip to stop from crying out. Her fingernails dug into Root's hands, the digits threatening to smash bones. She began to shake her head, trembling all over. The pain was way over her threshold by now. This was meant to be the part when she took refuge in the blackness, but she couldn't. She began to scream at the excruciating hurt. It was the only way for her to deal with it, short of dying.

She started to thrash desperately, all mental functions abandoning her as she tried to break free. Root promptly sat on her. Holly continued to wriggle, but it had no effect. And then the commander felt it. The tail end of the mass of magical energy. He heaved a mental sigh of relief. Soon this would all be over.

The knowledge must have somehow passed to Captain Short, as she seemed to calm, and her cries of pain started to die away. He felt the last of the power flow from his fingers, and allowed himself to relax. Big mistake. By allowing his concentration to slip, Root had let go of his own soul. He sensed it pulling away from him, towards Holly, and he was helpless against it. His whole essence sank into her skin, and for a split second, Root felt what it was like to be her, in her body.

It was very strange. She was so… alive. It reminded him of how he had felt when he had been younger. A lot younger. It felt… good, good to feel fresh and alert. There was nothing like youth for a pick-me-up. But Holly's vitality was faded, hidden under a shell of pain. It reminded Root why he was really there, doing what he was. He tried to pull away, but found that he couldn't. He was stuck.

As he began to panic, he felt something lift away from him. Holly's soul was the one floating about now – drawn magnetically towards the empty husk that had used to be him. Root tried to grab onto her, stopping her going. He didn't think Holly would be very pleased to wake up in the body of her middle-aged commander.

It was at this point that Foaly decided to intervene. When the actual spell had been taking place, Holly had been glowing with a blue light from under every centimetre of her skin. There wasn't so much as a twinkle now, so Foaly assumed that the spell was over, and he could see that something wasn't right. He thought he'd seen a shadow, though a shadow made of light, pass between them, and now another, brighter one was crossing in the opposite direction. He realised what was happening. Somehow, Root must have initiated a soul-swap, and if he didn't break the contact soon, they would be irreversibly trapped in each other's heads.

He flexed a hoof, aimed it, and brought it crashing into the commander's side, knocking him from Captain Short, and against the wall. Holly also flew through the air, slamming into the corner, and slumping instantly to the floor, the cut on her forehead re-opening.

Root groaned, and staggered up, weaving a little as he made his way to where Foaly was already squatting next to Captain Short. Holly didn't look like she'd taken the impact well. A trickle of blood ran down her pale cheek. Root swore, checking her pulse. It was strong and even.

Holly's eyes flickered open, and she glared at her two companions. "What the hell took you so long?" she rasped.

Root and Foaly's faces broke into simultaneous grins of relief. "Sorry. Pony-boy here couldn't make up his mind." explained Root.

Holly smirked at the centaur. "Don't worry about hurrying or anything when my life's on the line, will you Foaly?"

The centaur glared back at her. "You're very cocky for a girl who was swooning in the arms of her boss a few minutes ago. May I remind you that if it wasn't for me, you would be dead now?"

Holly's colour quickly deepened, and she stared fixedly at the floor, swearing silent revenge against the centaur. Trust him to bring up stuff like that at the most inopportune of moments.

"Well maybe if you had gotten your four-legged arse into that freezer a bit quicker, I wouldn't have died in the first place." She mumbled. She raised her head to look into Foaly's face, carefully avoiding Root's eyes. "I was hardly in control of what I was doing."

The centaur's mouth, meanwhile, was hanging open. "You died?"

Holly waved her hand. "Well… in a manner of speaking. I was just about to leave my body when I was pulled back with a…" She glanced at Root's shocked features. "… kick in the face. And talking of kicks… what the hell happened? I could have sworn I felt the commander in my head."

"He accidentally initiated a 'permūto de ănĭmus'." drawled the centaur, back in intellectual control again. "Or as it's more commonly known, a 'soul exchange'." Holly raised an eyebrow. Foaly sighed. What he wouldn't give for someone of equal mental ability sometimes… "He let go of his soul, his essence, his life-force. It followed his magic into you, and your soul was drawn irresistibly back to him."

Holly nodded. "Uh-huh." she said vaguely, as if implying that he was making it up. "Or it was that just an excuse to kick our dear superior?"

Root glared at the centaur. "While we're on the subject… Did you really need to kick that hard? I would have thought your so-called intellect would have deduced that Captain Short didn't exactly need to be slammed against a wall after a near death experience."

"Magical rebound." snapped the centaur. "The traces of energy left over repelled outside contact, reacting very violen - "

"So I nearly ended up as Root?" interrupted Holly as the commander made a move to strangle Foaly.

"Yep. And I believe congratulations are in order, sir."

The elf raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

Foaly grinned. "You're the first ever recorded man to penetrate the mind of a female." He winked at Holly. "Not even us geniuses have yet found a way to understand what goes on up there." He tapped the forehead of an extremely pissed-off Holly.

She grabbed his fingers, squeezing just hard enough that they wouldn't break. "How about I let you in on a little secret of the sisterhood, and tell you what's going through my mind right now?" she growled, baring her teeth at Foaly.

He gulped. "That's OK, I think I can guess." he said quickly. Root tried and failed to smother his laughter. Holly gave him a look, and the chuckles subsided.

She swung her glare back to the unfortunate centaur. "And if you ever call me 'Darling', 'Sweetheart' or any other endearing term along those lines I will personally rip your throat out." She smiled sweetly. "Got it?" Furious nods. "Good."

Captain Short climbed a little unsteadily to her feet. She checked under the jacket that had been draped over her shoulders at sometime, she couldn't remember when, for her weapon. Sitting in its holster, gleaming. Excellent. Holly let the jacket fall to the ground as she drew the stolen laser, firing it up. She smirked at the other two fairies, before striding to the doorway.

She was just disengaging the lock on the door, when her vision was swamped by viscous darkness. Her head swirled, and she found she couldn't stand up. She sank to her knees, keeling over onto her side.

The other two fairies saw her fall, and were immediately by her side. Holly blinked furiously. "I'm fine." she muttered. "Just a bit dizzy, that's all. I'll be alright in a minute."

The commander wasn't having any of it. "Oh no you don't." he said, hoisting her into a sitting position and propping her against a wall. "You don't leave this room until you convince me you're well enough to. Foaly, I assume you can explain this?"

Holly winced, arms crossed protectively over her side. It gave Foaly all the information he needed. "It's the MS bullet that's still in her. It's wreaking havoc with the internal chemical balance. We need to get it out now."

Holly gave an exasperated sigh. "Later, Foaly, when this is all over. I can manage till then. I told you, I'm fi - "

Root glared at her. "You; shut up. You are only OK when I say you are OK, understood?" he turned to Foaly. "How?"

"You're going to need to get it out manually; we don't have the tools. It will be near the surface of the skin by now."

The elf did a double-take. "Me? Isn't it you turn to do something, centaur? You are, after all, the expert in this."

"True as that may be, you have to do it. As you warned me yourself, my body is not built to handle large flows of magic. The power stored in the chamber has been held for longer than the recommended time, and it wants to get out. If I make contact with Holly, it will find me, and flow into me, and the closer I am to it, the quicker."

Root looked unconvinced. "So how was it possible that you could touch her before?"

The centaur was ready for that one. "I wasn't actively trying to claim it, the need to escape was less, and I wasn't in contact with Holly's bare skin long enough for it to get to me." he said coolly.

The commander glared. "Fine. What do I have to do?"

"First we need to find the point of entry. I suggest you look for a weak spot in the side of her dress. The fall-out from the bullet does knit back together, but loosely. It'll be easy to break apart."

Holly moved her arms, giving Root clear access to that part of the dress. He ran his fingers gently over the material, pausing once or twice before finding the spot. With the expertise of an LEP officer of many missions, he ripped a neat slit. Holly opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. She decided she'd rather face Carmen's wrath than Root's, but it was a close call.

The commander turned to Foaly. "Right, what now?"

"There should be a lump or hard spot under the surface somewhere near. The bullet may have moved since it went in, but it won't be far away."

Tentatively, Root laid his hand over the skin on Holly's waist. She flinched slightly, and he immediately drew back. "Did that hurt?" he asked.

Holly forced a smile. "No, cold hands, that's all." She saw Root beginning to rub them together. "No – don't bother. It's kind of soothing…"

Root raised an eyebrow, rightly guessing that the real reason was that she was hoping it might numb the pain. Cautiously, he re-placed his fingers, running them over the skin. Holly gritted her teeth and kept still this time.

Eventually he found it, though due to the hardness of all the muscle around it, it wasn't easy to detect. Holly had obviously built up strong back and stomach muscles with all the field work and preparation she had to do.

"Found it. Next?"

"This is the tricky part. You need to try and draw it out with the emptiness that has replaced your power. As soon as it breaks the skin, you have to grab it, or it will try and sink itself into you."

Root couldn't help but glare at him. It seemed to the commander that he was making this difficult on purpose. The elf pictured the emptiness inside him, and what it was made of. There had been something like this in the advanced magic class back at school… What was it again? 'You can use anything to do with power to call something, even the absence of power itself, if you picture it clearly in your mind… Root tried to see the emptiness drawing the chamber out. There was a movement under Holly's skin, and Root saw her bite her lip against the pain. He pulled harder, and felt as well as saw the thing wriggling to the surface.

Finally it broke through, peeping out through a hole quickly filling with blood. Mentally, Root kept pulling, and with his fingers, attempted to grasp the end. It slipped, lubricated by the red liquid. He called it out perhaps a millimetre more.

"Got it." he said, teasing it out of the hole. Holly let herself relax. She didn't really care if she was bleeding. She'd been through worse than that in the last few minutes. The commander placed the bullet beneath the sole of his shoe, crushing the chamber. The magic was absorbed harmlessly into the rubber sole. He handed the slightly squashed, blood-covered projectile to Foaly with a grin. The centaur looked at it disdainfully. Obviously not big on blood and gore.

Holly was pressing a strip ripped from her skirt to her open wound. She would have used Root's magic but she couldn't control it yet. It was still adjusting to her body.

She tied the makeshift bandage tightly round her midriff and stood up, stretching stiff arms and legs. "Can we go now?" she asked sarcastically. "I've had my butt kicked more times than I can count in the last half an hour. I'd say it's just about time for me to be doing some butt-kicking of my own."

Root and Foaly grinned. It was good to see Holly back to normal again.

*****

Go Holly, go Holly, go Hol… *tails off at the weird looks she is receiving* Ahem, yes well. There you go. *squeaks* Looky looky looky!!! *waves hand at great big long thing that she loosely calls a chapter* My longest yet! *smiles proudly* Nearly 4,500 words. Go me!

Anyway, I just think I better mention that no matter how much coursework I get, and no matter how long between chapters, I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY! Oh no. I have the whole plot worked out, and I have the ending done, and I have even made up an ending sentence… I will finish it. Promise. Unless, that is, I commit suicide/get murdered by a wrathful teacher (probably IT or English). Yeah.

Right then… you know the drill… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! *smiles sweetly* please. It will be good for my, ahem, 'sanity'. So I shall see you later!

Luv slime xxx

PS: You will finally find out what really happened between Baz and Holl next chapter. *grins evilly* hehehe… this is my revenge on you, Holly, for being one of the too many Hollys I know. *counts on fingers* I know six! _Six!!!_ And that's real people. I like to think I know two more…


	13. Mad about the boy

**__**

A/N: Hello again! How long's it been now? Two, three decades? *hangs head* I am a bad author. I apologise. I won't give you all the blathering crap about how busy I was…

****

TO MY REVIEWERS: Lots of you this week (ha! More like century!). Thanks **to DawningImage, artylover108, Kelaal, chrysgurl** (calm down! It's here!), **BeWaReOfBlOnDe007, The Oracle, TrisaniSlytherin, becca, Crazygirly007, EMQU** (I'm just gonna use the abbreviation if you don't mind Freya… your name is really quite long…), **Eleida, Mage Kitty** and **Tie Kerl**. *throws out arms and advances to hug poor unfortunate reviewers* I love you guys… And to address a couple of the issues raised in several reviews… *shrieks* **KILL HOLLY? ARE YOU NUTS??? OF COURSE I WOULDN'T KILL HER!!!** She's the best character in the entire thing, my personal hero, and the most fun to write, and you think I'd kill her? Believed dead, re-incarnation, near-death experiences I have no problem with. But permanent death? (I've been watching waaay too much Buffy for my own good…). And to the other issue… *gags* no, definitely no Holly/Root here. That BFW fic with the cannibalism and the… *retches* oh frell… that put me off an actual relationship between them for good. However, I am not immune to one sided, alcohol/drug/magic induced feelings and actions. **That** I call comedy and torturing Holly in ways unimaginable to her. Muahahahahaha. How about we just say there will be NO pairings? I really hate that stuff. I like to think this is a romance-free story. Perhaps very mildly not in the last chapter, but it will be short, and there will be no face sucking. And no pairings OK, NONE.

*****

Root took point as the three fairies left the room, with Foaly taking up the rear, and Holly sandwiched between the two. Suffice to say that she was not best pleased. Obviously she was not yet trusted to be perfectly fit, and healthy enough to look after herself. There was no point arguing though. Commander Julius Root had a will of steel.

They came to a crossing, with three new routes to take. Holly opened her mouth to ask who should take which way, but was cut off by a glare from her two companions. Root seemed to read her mind. Maybe it was the after-effects of the soulswap, or maybe he'd just been on too many assignments with her. It was hard to tell. "Oh no, Captain." he said, half-amused. "I'm not letting you out of my sight, not after the mess you got yourself into back there in the freezer. We go together."

"But sir, that was not strictly my fault." protested Holly through gritted teeth. "I just _happened_ to meet more goblin resistance than you two."

"Actually, Holly, I think there was more to it than that." Foaly cut in, before either party could develop the argument into an all-out brawl. The elves turned to him, one with annoyance, one with the customary barely-tolerance. "It's no coincidence you've been getting more trouble than us. You're being targeted specifically."

"How did you work that one out, Einstein?"

The centaur's face remained impassive. "Even if you refuse to admit it, they're treating you differently from us. If they just wanted to kill you, why would they take all that trouble to shoot you with an MS, not let you drown, and lock you in that freezer?

Holly glared at the centaur. Was he determined to make life difficult for her? "You're just jealous you missed out on the action, Pony. I'm not a 'target'. Those goons are trying to kill us all."

Foaly shook his head in that annoyingly smug way of his. "No, you're wrong. I don't know if you noticed, Commander, but when we found the goblins outside the pool, they adjusted their settings before they countered our attack. When they were shooting at Holly, they were set to stun. With us, it was to kill. Coincidence?

"Well maybe this freak is just anti-feminist. I'm a bit of a political target for people like that anyway. It's not like I don't have that threat hanging over my head every day." Holly snapped. "You didn't seem too bothered about it until I stepped into this damn dress!"

"Now, now children…" said Root, stepping in so that he was between the two. "Short, just accept the fact that whatever you say, you will be ignored, so zip it, and save your strength for the enemy. Foaly, I think you've made your point… now do you have anything useful to contribute?"

Foaly gritted his teeth against the slight, and Holly turned away in disgust. D'Arvit, it was so typical of the male race… give a girl a bit of slap and long hair, and suddenly she was incapable of going anywhere or doing anything on her own without an escort.

Root was still waiting for an answer from Foaly, fully aware that both employees were extremely pissed off. Foaly braced himself for the barrage of abuse, and voiced his next theory.

"When we were patrolling as individuals, I heard a goblin talking to his warty friend about 'The Eye', aka the 'All-Seeing-Eye'. He's the guy behind this, I'm sure.

Root raised an eyebrow. "And who the hell is that?"

Foaly rubbed his hairy palms together. "Well, that's the second part of the theory. The Eye is a very little known underworld criminal, and he just doesn't have an identity. This is one secretive perp. No-one knows who he really is, or how powerful. But I think I can answer the former." He paused theatrically. "I have reason to suspect that Basil Kobalde is the Eye. This _is_ his manor after all. And he certainly has enough cash."

Holly turned round, and walked back to them, anger at Root forgotten. "Yes, he _definitely_ fits the profile… scheming, secretive, lying, cheating, sly, grudge against all females, seemingly me…"

Foaly shook his head. "I think the motive is more complicated than that. From what you told me about what happened, he should have no reason to hate you."

Holly's eyes flashed at him, and Root started to look uncharacteristically interested. The last thing she needed was for that to be brought up _now_…

"I don't pretend to know how Ba - " Holly caught herself just in time. " – Kobalde's mind works. I just know one thing; he hates me. He's hated me for over ten years. There's nothing more complicated than that."

Foaly waggled his finger infuriatingly. "Oh no, I don't think that's it. _He_ was the one who hurt _you_." He paused, thinking of the best way to put his next sentence without losing any vital organs or limbs. "We need to find out why he's got a grudge against you, and to do that, you need to tell us what happened. All of it."

Holly's complexion went from white to scarlet in a matter of nanoseconds. "That's ridiculous!" she snarled. "You just want to know all the juicy details. How can knowing why he hates me _possibly_ help bring him down? That is still the mission statement, isn't it!"

"Actually, Captain, the pony has a point." Root ignored the chin dropping caused by this sudden admittance. "If we are to predict his next move, and how he will act, we need to know as much about him as possible. You are the only one who actually knows anything about him. If we're going to get anywhere, we all need that information."

Holly ground her teeth together so hard that they were clearly heard by the others. "Why don't I just summarise the junk, and give you a character profile?"

Root shook his head, trying to keep a vindictive smile from his lips. "No. You're too biased. Look, Short, this isn't going to go your way, so why don't we just save some time, and get on with it?" Holly opened her mouth to argue. Root sighed. "That's a direct order Captain. Just tell us."

Holly clenched her jaw, and looked away. "What is there to tell? He was my best friend's boyfriend, I was attracted to him for reasons I can't quite fathom, he got me on my own, he kissed me, he told me he loved me, then he did a runner on both of us. He vanished from my life for ten years, and then he tries to kill me. There's nothing else to say."

Foaly shook his head. "Oh come on, Holly. You can do better than that. That's not the full story and you know it. We need more detail if this is going to help us."

The look she gave him was malevolent enough to melt through a fifty metre thick sheet of ice in a millisecond. "Fine. Whatever." She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the complete exposure of her private life. "Carmen met him at a restaurant she was waiting tables for. He was four years older than the two of us – we were both 70, and he was 74. They fell in love, dadedadeda, and eventually he moved in with us. For some reason I fancied him, and it hurt to see them together sometimes, but there was nothing I could or would do about it. I think he saw it though. I'd catch him looking at me strangely sometimes. I was just very careful around him, avoided being alone with him, or talking about certain things with him… standard stuff. Carmen trusted me completely though. I don't think she even saw it at first. So, after a few months, I got home from a bad day, and I was tired, grouchy and stressed. Carmen wasn't there, so it was just the two of us, but I didn't care. He offered to…" Here, Holly paused, and blushed even redder. "… To give me a… massage, as he could see I was stressed."

Root groaned out loud. "Oh come on, Holly! I can't believe you fell for that! It's the oldest, cheesiest trick in the book!"

Holly took a moment to glare at him. "I know that!" she snapped. "But I was tired, I wasn't thinking straight, my guard was down, and I needed to vent the tension." She looked away again, preferring not to make eye contact. "So anyway… I wasn't worrying about anything, and he suddenly kissed me. I asked him what the hell he was doing, and what about Carmen, and he just…" Holly squirmed. "… just… shut me up with another kiss. Then he told me that…" Holly swallowed, misery staining her features. She was obviously hating every minute of this. "… He told me that it was me, not Carmen, and that he loved me. Then he kissed me again, and I broke away and locked myself in my room." Holly shook her head in disgust. "And I was stupid enough to let myself believe it was true, that it was finally my turn."

She said nothing for a while, absorbed in her thoughts. Root started to get impatient. "And?" he asked. "Did you… you know… I mean…"

Holly's head whipped round to look at him, disgust written all over her face. "Oh. You mean did I shag him?" Her use of harsh slang made Root all the more ashamed for asking. But he simply locked his jaw and stuck to his guns.

"You could put it that way, yes." he snapped.

For a few seconds Holly was at a loss for words. "Is that all you men _ever_ think about?" she spat finally, eyes blazing with the fire of wrath. "Can nothing ever just be a kiss, and only a kiss? Why does it always have to go all the way with you? It's pathetic! You're obsessed!"

Root let her infuriated ramblings wash over him. "Stop avoiding the question. Did you, or did you not sleep with him?"

Holly growled in exasperation. "D'Arvit, of course I didn't! You guys may not have an unwritten code of conduct, but we do. 'Thou shalt keep thy claws out of thy best friend's man.' It's one of the most important rules! I'd never do that to Carmen."

"So what exactly happened next?" cut in Foaly.

Holly rolled her eyes. Unnecessary, yes, but it made her feel slightly better. "He told Carmen and I to meet him somewhere, at the same time. Then, in public, and in front of her, he told me that I was a fool to think he could love _me_, and that it really was the lowest thing to snog your friend's boyfriend." Holly bit her lip, the pain still fresh in her heart. "Carmen went very pale and asked if it was true in this little shocked voice. I tried to tell her I was sorry, but she wouldn't listen, she just looked at me like I was the dirt beneath her feet. And then he turned to her, and told her that I wasn't the only idiot, and that she must be blind if she couldn't see that he had no feelings for her, and was only using her for a quick jump. Carmen just ran, and I couldn't follow her. That was the last I ever saw of him." Holly brought her gaze up to look directly at Foaly. "Can you get a psychological profile out of that, _centaur_?" she snarled.

Neither Root nor Foaly spoke. They were obviously still trying to get their heads round it. Sensing that she wouldn't meet resistance, Holly flicked off her safety catch, and left them standing in the corridor as she stalked off in search of some goblin behind in the need of kicking.

Not a scale in sight. Captain Short ground her teeth in frustration. Typical. The one time she had been allowed to go off on her own and do some serious damage to the enemy, and there was no enemy to damage. The elf was casting disgusted eyes around the immediate vicinity when she spotted a camera, blinking smugly at her.

Holly tilted her head to one side, staring straight at the small piece of technology. Her eyebrows rose of their own accord, and her mouth curved into a malicious smirk. She brought up the laser, aiming it dead at the lens.

"I don't appreciate being watched." she growled, loosing a bolt from the barrel. The lens smashed, and with a small crackle and hiss of gas, the surveillance device was rendered obsolete. Holly blew gently on the barrel of the gun, feeling the need for the age-old macho rituals and clichés. She chuckled softly. She felt somehow a lot better now.

"Ever the trigger-happy, our Captain Short." remarked a voice behind her. Holly spun, weapon immediately levelling at the speaker. Seeing that Foaly and Root had come up behind her, she lowered her gun, though not after some hesitation. She still hadn't forgiven them.

"Done with your discussion of my private life yet?" she hissed, the barbs in her words barely contained.

Foaly ignored her attitude. "Yes, actually, we have. It's pretty obvious really, but you're just too scared to face up to it." The centaur paused to let Holly fume for a few seconds. "The commander and I both agree. He's in definite denial about what he felt for you, and what he still does. He's lashing out at you because he can't admit he still wants you."

Holly's mouth fell open. "You cannot be serious! You weren't there! He does _not_ still 'want' me, and I doubt he even did then! Carmen and I… we were just toys for him to play with, then throw away." She snorted. "And now you tell me he's a poor tortured soul afraid to face his own feelings. Don't give me all that Beauty and the Beast crap, Foaly. Real life isn't like that."

Foaly was unperturbed. "We saw the way he acted around you." He stopped, hoping Root would chip in and deliver the next bombshell. He didn't. "And we saw the way you acted around him. He's not the only one who still has feelings, is he, Holly?" 

Captain Short suddenly went very pale, and her eyes widened in horror before she more-or-less got her face under control. "Don't even go there." she snarled, fighting to keep the panic from her voice.

The techie refused to back down. "So it's true then. You do still have feelings for him!"

"One feeling; singular." Holly spat, rage burning fire in her veins. "Hate."

Foaly shook his head. "Stop hiding from it, Holly. You and I both know it was never just a five-minute fling that got out of hand. This goes deeper, doesn't it?"

Holly had stopped trying to hide her desperation now. "Back off, centaur." she growled, retreating slowly and unconsciously away from them, and into a corner. "Just drop it and leave it alone."

Her shoulders pressed against the wall, and Holly glanced quickly behind her. Finding only plaster, she had to bring her gaze back to the two fairies in front of her. A movement to Commander Root's left side caught her eye, and she swung her firearm up, index finger checking the setting and coming to rest on the trigger in one fluid, polished movement. She squeezed and the goblin went down.

Root and Foaly had been alerted to the danger by now. The two trained LEP officers automatically manoeuvred themselves so that they were back to back, minimising the target. Holly indicated with her head for the centaur to get in between them, facing outwards. The small hit squad of five goblins was unconscious in about thirty seconds flat.

Holly pushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "So you say he's in denial and I say he hates my guts. Wonderful. Let's go shoot him." The crossfire had obviously cleared her head. Nothing like a fight to stay alive to sober you up. She made another futile attempt to keep her unnaturally long tresses from her face. "Either of you got a rubber band, or a stick or something?" she asked, fighting the urge to rip the stuff from her scalp. "I really can't go on like this."

With a barely concealed grin, Foaly produced a screwdriver, a length of filament wire and a tiny insulating ring. Holly then proceeded to gather her hair into a ponytail, gripping it in one hand, while selecting the screwdriver with the other. Root and Foaly watched in fascination as she stuck the shaft of the tool into the mass, twisting it to roll the whole lot into a tight ball. Holding it all in her left palm again, she delicately picked the wire from the centaur's palm, tying it round the whole lot to make it more secure. She gave her head a small shake to test it, and apparently satisfied, reclaimed her weapon from her holster.

Catching the look she was receiving, Holly waved her hand vaguely. "You'd be surprised what you pick up with a techie and a hairdresser for friends." She winked at Foaly. "Eh, centaur?"

****

IN THE BALLROOM:

Trouble Kelp blinked as the room started to sway again. He quickly put down his empty glass, gripping onto the table. He was drunk, and there was no point hiding from it. He just hoped he could find a quiet place to throw up in time.

A hazy memory floated through his intoxicated mind, dancing just out of reach. Captain Kelp, however, was not one to be eluded. He clutched at the thought, and it all came flooding back… about four… or was it five… glasses ago, that blonde girl, the corporal, had asked him to go and find Short, Root and Foaly. Kelp straightened and nodded to himself. Drunk? Ha! Tell that to his brain. Alcohol couldn't knock the Danger-Man's intellect. Oh no.

Staggering slightly, Kelp wove his way to the door he had seen Holly's auburn hair disappearing through. Smiling blankly at the people he passed, he lent heavily on the door, falling through it. Blinking hard, he surveyed the mess.

"Holly!" he yelled, speech slightly slurred. "You're wanted." Slowly he took in his surroundings. Like Holly, the scent of danger cleared his head. "Captain Short?" he called again, though this time there was caution and restraint in his tone. "Commander Root? Foaly?"

By now he was starting to get worried. Stepping gingerly over a shattered vase, he peered into the passage. He snatched a breath at the sight of the pathetic group of trussed-up goblins. They should not have been there at all, let alone in that state, so Trouble assumed it was an ally who'd neutralised them. He moved closer for a better inspection. Neatly and efficiently done. And there was something else. Most of the goblins were wearing small black com-units on their ears, but three of the ten weren't. Trouble grinned. They did not train LEP retrieval officers to miss things. This was the work of trained officers, and he had a fixed feeling that he knew who two of them were. And the missing devices… obviously a techie had been at work here.

Kelp took a few more steps and saw it. Someone had hacked off a length of purple material. Trouble picked it up, running his fingers over the smooth fibres thoughtfully. It matched the fabric of Holly's skirt exactly. So that solved the mystery of where she disappeared to.

Thinking it would be a good idea to arm himself, Kelp bent down to select a weapon when he felt a cold barrel press against his temple. He froze. "Hands in the air and turn around, elf." hissed a goblin voice from behind. The captain did as he was told, and was met by the sight of twenty scale-covered reptiles with an identical look of smug satisfaction and sadism plastered across each ugly face. It was a fearsome sight. Trouble swallowed, seeing no way he could shoot his way out of this one. He decided instead to make light conversation.

"Evening gentlemen." he said casually, weighing up any other options he might have. "What can I do for you?"

They ignored him. One of the vile creatures was busy giving a report to the entity on the other end of the com-line.

"We got a elf here, sir. He wandered out the ballroom and me an' the boys got 'im at gun point." There was a pause. "I dunno…" He turned to Captain Kelp. "You a civilian or a officer?" The elf drew a haughty breath, and said not a word. The goblin turned away again. "He won't say. Right. You want us to fry him? There's only one sir, if we just get rid of him, no one will twi - " The fairy cowered as audible shouting drifted through the air.

"_No-one will 'twig'! Are you completely without cognitive abilities? There could be a whole squad of them just waiting for the signal!_" The voice grew calm again, and Trouble could no longer hear it.

The goblin could, however. "P-pull in sir? But - "

Before he could get his second word out, the voice started yelling again.

"_What did I tell you? No buts! Do you know what I do with insolent, disobedient, idiotic minions like you?_" The goblin grew visibly smaller. "_I do this!_" And with these final words to the unfortunate individual, The Eye bore down on the feeble mind with more power than any brain was ever meant to withstand. The goblin slumped dead to the floor, yellowish liquid trickling from each pointed ear. A thin stream of blood snaked its way down the corpse's chin, dripping on to the concrete floor.

The creature's companions stared in transfixed horror at their former comrade. The ear-piece, however, was far from dead.

"_And let that be a lesson to you all!_" the voice screeched. "_Now get me someone capable of following orders before I am tempted to practice my cranial control skills any further!_"

There was a mad scramble to claim the ear-piece. A large fairy with a multitude of graphic and gruesome tattoos got there first. He simply listened to the orders, occasionally asking for clarification. Trouble cursed to himself. How were you meant to learn anything when the speaker on your end of the line didn't hold up his end of the conversation?

"Yessir. Pull in. Got it. Yessir. I'll get 'em all here. Nosir. Yessir. Of course sir. We'll all go in together from the three entrances. Yessir. We'll wait for your orders once we've secured the hostages. Yessir. Got it." Trouble could see this one would go far if he survived the incident. The ability to repeat orders with an affirmative on the end was very useful in the rent-a-thug business. The new squad leader turned to his team. "Right men. We got the order. We wait for the others to get into place, then we all go in at the same time and grab the suckers." He indicated the LEP officer with his newly swollen head. "Tie that up, and keep it quite. Just don't kill it."

Trouble opened his mouth to protest to this treatment and found someone's smelly sock shoved into it. He should have known these grunts would be unimaginative with their gags. He was led to the door he had so recently come through, and stood helpless as the troops massed.

****

SOMEWHERE IN THE MANOR:

After five minutes and countless white-walled hallways, the elves and the centaur came to the decision that they were no longer being hunted. This worried them – if the goblin personnel had been pulled out of this part of the manor, they were likely to be collecting somewhere else, like the ballroom. And that was definitely far from good.

After one more corner, Foaly stopped. "This is pointless." he said, and the other two nodded. You didn't have to be an expert in logistics to know that you were being ignored.

Holly turned to look back the way they had come. "My guess is that they've been rumbled and now they have no choice but to pull into the ballroom and go straight to hostages. I just wonder who got out… though I have a pretty good idea." Foaly looked at her expectantly. Root got there first though.

"Captain Trouble Kelp, the LEP's most… enthusiastic officer." Holly grinned. The commander cracked his knuckles. "I think it's time we joined the party again, don't you?"

"Only one problem, sir." Holly cut in. "Does anyone know the way back? I, personally, was unconscious for some of it, through _no fault of my own_…" She paused to let it sink in. The others rolled their eyes. She just wouldn't let it go… "So I'm hoping one of you two was paying attention. Lost in Basil Kobalde's manor does not seem like an attractive prospect to me. Whatever certain deluded individuals may say."

They ignored the hints. Naturally it was Foaly who held the key. He fixed Holly with a smug look. "It's really very simple, Captain. Ballrooms are always in the centre of the manor so that arriving guests can be paraded through as much of the house as possible. These places are all built to showing off. Now, as we have been travelling roughly around the room on a parallel course, it should just be a matter of finding a way from one to the other… Like that one there." He pointed to an intersection a little further down.

Holly smirked back at him, his cockiness starting to get to her again. They set off towards the corridor, though not abandoning caution.

Suddenly, a voice reverberated through the space. It was undeniably Kobalde's. All three froze, not knowing what to expect. The volume was turned down, and the speaker became coherent to them.

"Now that I have your attention." it said, anger and triumph simmering somewhere under the surface. "Would Holl – sorry, _Captain_ Short come to the ballroom alone and unarmed." The voice hardened. "We have all the people in there at gun point. If in two minutes she does not arrive I will start shooting." The connection was cut, and silence pervaded the air.

Holly swallowed. "Right then." she muttered, absently unbuckling her holster.

Root and Foaly stared at her. "You cannot be serious." the commander snapped. "It's a blatant trap. He's bluffing."

Holly looked at him, the pain of what she knew she would have to do in her eyes. "Are you willing to bet the lives of our friends and colleagues on that theory?"

"This is madness!" Foaly protested, desperately trying to make her see sense. "He'll just kill you, then start shooting them anyway!"

The elf shook her head. "I can't do nothing, Foaly. How am I meant to live with myself if I let them die?"

"D'Arvit, Holly!" growled Root in exasperation. "Stop being heroic! This is not the time!"

Holly gritted her teeth and started away from them. Root darted after her, catching her arm. She tried to pull away but he held fast. "This is suicide." he hissed. "He will either kill you, torture you or…" He paused, knowing she would understand what he was warning her about. It made it worse for Holly that he didn't just come out and say it. She had been trying to forget about that particular risk, and it was easy enough to ignore someone's cautions.

Holly's mouth twisted sadly. "Don't you see?" she whispered, fear pounding through her head. "I have no choice. It's them or me, and I'd say that's a pretty obvious decision. Now, if you don't mind, I have about sixty-five seconds to get there before this is all for nothing." She forced a smile for them. "I'll see you later. Wait about five minutes before you come after me. That's all I ask."

Reluctantly, Root released her arm. With one final, and she hoped reassuring, look, Holly turned and ran down the corridor.

*****

It would seem I'm going back to my old and utterly terrible habits. Cliff-hangers. What I suspect is hideous OOCness. And now to tell you that… *hides* I'm not going to update for ages I think. Let me explain… I'm going to Spain on an exchange next week (which is kind of scary seeing as I can't speak Spanish) and so I won't get it up before then, then I'm going to the Peak District the next week, and then I have a day to breathe before my exchange comes and stays for another week. And then I get dragged down to Devon for most of the two week Easter holiday. (Actually, I wrote that before I went, and now I'm going to Devon tomorrow at sparrow-fart, so it's pretty much the same.) So, you can understand it may be a little longer than even I anticipated. But I will try. Honest. If I survive how *beep* *beeeep* busy I am at the minute (I do not expect to sleep any time soon).

*sigh* right, you're obviously falling asleep due to my inane babblings so I shall bid you all good night and farewell, as I may not be back for some time…

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!

Luv slime xxx


	14. Mind games

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Hello all. Contrary to popular belief I am not, in fact, dead. Though I'm doing a good impression of it… *looks sheepish yet again* I'm sorry people, but there's a helluva lotta coursework at the moment, and then there's revision for the mid-courses. I have been buried alive, and it is only in moments like this when I manage to claw my way out that I can write, before I get submerged once more. At least I'm on half term at the minute, so the next chapter may get started, if not finished or posted, quite soon. And then, a week later, I'm on study leave for a fortnight, so I may do some writing then. I shall try harder, oh so much harder…

*squeals* OMG, I just remembered… has anyone heard the TEC tape yet? I got it for my sister for her birthday and HOLY FROND are the voices off! Foaly has gone completely chipmunk again, Holly suddenly went a few more tones deeper, Spiro sounds like a cross between Moe from the Simpsons and Ruby Wax *shudders* and Mulch has changed his accent completely! He's now the growly, evil, hard mob-guy with a deep Irish accent! What happened to the… other one??? (I really suck at accent-identification – even in my own damn country!) *mutters furious things about dunbars and chipmunks* And the music!!! They scraped the theme tune completely! It's now this stupid one that sounds like a hyped-up version of the MIB theme. Ugh…

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TO MY REVIEWERS: You know what, **do you know** what? I love you guys. I reaaaally do. Thanks to **Sara Begg** (when are we seeing you lot again by the way… it's been ages – and stop nagging me, cousin however-many-times-removed of mine), **surrealallstar**, **EvilSpirit** (no, there definitely ain't anything between Holly and Root), **Fowl-Star** (of course I love you forever…), **artylover108**, **qwertyuiop[]mfkna** (I'm assuming this is isn't your actually name, just a jumble of letters, but hey, how should I know?)** FBSDJFJNB** (are you the same person again?) **chrysgurl**, **crazygirly007** (happy birthday for ages ago, by the way, you fourteen-year-old, you) **TrisaniSlytherin** (rating changed on your advice – and if it helps, I'm writing a humor fic with The Oracle… we just never get round to finishing it…) **becca**, **Tie Kerl**, and my '**beloved beta**', though I dunno why I'm thanking you as it was another nag. If you would just beta the frelling chapters, I would listen to you, wouldn't I?

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A/N: I have used a lot of italics further down in this chapter, so to inform you now, what is happening on the screen is in italics, and what it happening in the 'real' world is not in italics. Obviously, this is just for the large amounts of text, not the stressed words/phrases. And then there are the subconscious thoughts and they're in both. Or at least, next chapter they will be. *looks confused* huh. Yeah, but you'll know what I mean when you get there. I would also like to point out that I am not a psychiatrist, so what happens in Holly's head is my interpretation for the purposes of this fic. I know it's way off, but it fits with the plot.

*****

****

OUTSIDE THE BALLROOM

As soon as she rounded the corner, Captain Short was forced to her knees, with a gun pressed non-too-gently to the side of her head. The goblins eagerly produced cable ties, tightly binding her wrists behind her back. Holly suppressed a wince as the plastic dug into her skin, threatening to break the surface.

"Are you ready for 'er yet, sir?" one of the creatures grunted into his mic. "Yes sir, she appears to be alone." There was a pause. "Yeah, we'll keep an eye out for the others." Another pause. "N-no sir, not yet." He shrank a little. "Yes sir, right away. Then we'll bring 'er in." He turned to the rest of his team. "Check 'er for weapons."

A scanner bar was swept down her front and back. Holly gritted her teeth. She was starting to wish they would just get on with it and shoot her. But alas, no. Kobalde intended to have some fun with her first.

When at last it was confirmed that the elf had no weaponry she was dragged roughly to her feet, and frog-marched into the ballroom. As an after-thought, the leader of the band pulled a roll of tape from a pocket, and using his teeth, severed a strip from it. Holly thought about resisting this latest offensive, but decided against it. It would only draw unnecessarily on her reserves of strength.

"Well well well." said a voice in front of her, and Captain Short looked up into the eyes of Basil Kobalde. The look of hatred in her gaze almost knocked him back, but he refused to show it. Instead, he forced a triumphant grin to spread across his face. "Nice of you to join us."

For the first time, Holly allowed herself a glance around the space. It was a sorry sight. Most officers and civilians were avoiding her eyes, hands bound behind backs, with an armed goblin soldier positioned over them at regular intervals. Holly could understand their shame. They felt useless; the knowledge that they had been defeated so easily burning holes in their pride. She almost smiled when she saw Captain Kelp, however. The picture of defiance. Catching her look, Trouble grinned and winked at her. At least not everybody had given up.

She continued to scan the room: exit routes; personnel count; casualties. All were heavily guarded; easily over a hundred goblins scattered about the room; the odd cut and bruise here and there, though nothing life-threatening. Yet. These grunts were stupid – there was a slight chance that Root and Foaly would be able to bust their way in, but what then? They certainly did not stand a chance in here.

Kobalde, meanwhile, did not appreciate being ignored. A rough hand reached out to grasp Holly's chin, yanking her head round until it faced him again. Captain Short attempted to bare her teeth in a growl, but was prevented by the tape covering her mouth. Seeing this, her captor ripped it off.

"It's so much more fun when they can talk." he remarked. Holly proceeded to impart the aforementioned snarl. Kobalde grinned maliciously. "Feisty." he muttered. "You're making this very interesting, Holly."

Captain Short was by now starting to feel sick. She hid it with a question. "So what's this all about, Kobalde?" she inquired sarcastically. "It's traditional for the criminal to brag to his hostages of his wonderful plan, and you never were _terribly_ original."

A bitter smile lurked around the corners of his mouth. "You know, you should all consider yourselves privileged to be here," he said, addressing everyone in the ballroom this time. "For this will be the first time I'll ever have revealed my criminal identity. Not that it matters anymore… somehow I don't think the LEP will be after me, not now I have them _under my control_." He paused theatrically, mentally noting the further droop of the heads at the last statement. Holly did her best to look bored. "You see, _I_ am 'The All-Seeing-Eye'. And from this moment on I hold all of your lives in my hands."

Captain Short rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on." she sneered. "That's old news. We already know you're The Eye. It wasn't exactly hard to find that two and three make five."

She risked a flick of the eyes to the door she knew help would come through. Just keep him talking... her mind whispered to her.

Holly took another breath, mentally steadying herself. "You still haven't - "

"They're not coming to rescue you, Holly." Kobalde interrupted, watching her face carefully. "I've ordered the guards to shoot on site. There's no hope left for you or this _pathetic_ bunch who call themselves officers of the law."

She gritted her teeth and stared him straight in the eye, making sure her face was as expressionless as was elfinly possible. She didn't reply.

Kobalde shrugged. "Fine. Though on second thoughts, it might be interesting to let them see what happens next." He grinned mercilessly. "I have quite a performance planned. And guess what?" He smiled happily. "You're the star!"

Captain Short allowed her nose to wrinkle and her lip to curl. "You are one seriously sick fre - "

She was interrupted by the sudden parting of the double doors behind her, as Commander Root and Foaly burst through the aperture, guns drawn. With reactions she never would have believed possible for a civilian, one of Kobalde's arms encircled her waste, pulling her to his side, while the other drew a nasty looking weapon. The elf moved Holly's restraint higher, squeezing her windpipe to prevent sound escaping, and a cold barrel was pressed to her temple.

"That's far enough," he shouted. "Any closer and I blow her away."

Foaly and Root froze. Holly fought to breathe, pain grating across her trachea. She silently implored her would-be liberators to get on with it, not to worry about her; shoot anyway. Anything to get her out of his death grip.

"Now, put the firearms down, gentlemen, nice and slowly." continued Kobalde. When his orders had been carried out he released Captain Short, and she staggered away, bending slightly as she tried to get her breath back. She dared not go far, however, and stood just out of reach. If only there had been a chair…

Basil kept one eye on her, and the other on the goblins securing the intruders. Once they had been escorted to the side of a room, his full attention swung back to Holly. The LEP captain eyed him warily from a curtain of hair that had fallen over her face, straightening slowly. A purple bruise was already beginning to show on her neck.

"Now then, where were we? Ah yes, our little performance. Oh, don't worry, Holly. It's nothing _too_ physical."

She shuddered, guessing it would be much worse. Dead right, as it happened. "Bring it on." she growled, using the tough-act to hide her fear.

Kobalde laughed. "Oh believe me, I intend to. But first, I think a little explanation is necessary." He turned to the others. "Some of you may be wondering why Captain Short here and myself seem to know each other. The truth is, we're old friends, aren't we Holl?" Captain Short bared her teeth. "We've known each other for years. And Holly has a little secret that I'm sure she wouldn't want me telling you."

Holly couldn't help it. She visibly paled, a shiver coursing spontaneously down her spine. She could already see where this was going, and she did not like it one little bit.

"But we'll come back to that later. Some of you may have realised by now that I am not your straightforward elf. I have special powers, to be dramatic. Or, more precisely, control over minds." His eyes took on a predatory gleam as he scanned the room for a victim. They rested on Chix Verbil who, if possible, had contrived to turn greener than his usual leaf-coloured complexion. "A demonstration, perhaps." He pointed to the terrified private. "You. Up here now."

Chix came, barely able to walk on his shaking legs. Holly couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She tried to catch his eye, to smile, to provide any kind of encouragement that would help him, but he pointedly ignored her. Holly sighed inwardly. Pride is a dangerous thing, she thought sadly. I just hope he doesn't get himself killed.

Kobalde was by now starting to resemble a shark with blood lust. "First, let's try orders." He turned to the quaking sprite, cutting his bonds before pointing at Holly. "Strangle her."

Verbil's face registered shock, then horror. He drew himself up to his full height. "Never. I would never hurt a fellow officer."

Their tormentor nodded approvingly. "As I thought. Now let's see how you hold up to mind control."

The sprite suddenly charged at Holly, fingers reaching for her throat. Caught off guard, Captain Short leapt backwards, using the time to formulate a plan. With one hand she caught hold of his left wrist, and with the other, grabbed his shoulder and spun him round so that his back was to her, pinning the trapped arm behind him, effectively preventing him from cutting off her air. Chix gasped in pain, then gave a small spasm as he was released from Kobalde's control. Holly quickly let him go, not wanting to hurt him any more than was necessary.

Chix looked thoroughly spooked. Kobalde waved him away. "Now, back to Holly's little secret. There are several ways I could reveal it to you. I could, of course, tell you myself, but that would be boring. I could simple order her to do it using my mental powers, though physical torture would be more fun." Kobalde reached towards Captain Short, fingers brushing her hair out of her face. The touch sent a shock of electricity burning through Holly's cheek and down her back. She jerked away, a look of disgust playing over her mouth. "No," continued Kobalde "I think by far the best way would be for her to _show_ you what happened. By the means of her memories."

Suddenly, Holly realised exactly what he was doing. This was a last resort if his master plan failed – to ruin her career once and for all, so even if they did escape, the council would find a reason to have her fired. It made her sick, but also filled her with a dread she couldn't quite find words for. The LEP was a huge part of her life now, and she couldn't just let it go. But what other option was there?

The elf before her was speaking again. Holly forced herself to listen.

"Extracting these memories would be an easy task for me… one little trip and I see it all. But that doesn't show you. So what I can do is, with this little gadget," He held up a piece of equipment that looked roughly like the device Foaly and his boys used to translate brainwaves to binary for fine-tune mindwipes. "Which is connected to this screen," He pointed to a large, cinema-sized screen that had just been uncovered on the southern wall. Holly sighed. Great, she thought, just great. I get to spill my guts like some movie premiere. "I can project what I am receiving onto the screen. 'Not too revolutionary', you may think, 'we got a centaur who can do that'."

He grinned at the fuming technician. Foaly evidently didn't appreciate the abuse of _his_ invention.

"But, the thing about the pony's machine is that it reads only what the eye saw and recorded in the memory, so you get it in first person. With mine, it reads the emotive memory as well as the physical one, and as a part of your mind is self-aware, you effectively get third-person viewing. Much more interesting. And only possible in combination with a power like mine." He turned to look at Holly. "So yes, Captain, it will be 'spilling your guts like some movie premiere'."

The LEP officer turned cold inside. "How did you…"

Kobalde smirked. "Read your mind without you sensing me there?" he completed. Holly said nothing, but the agreement was in her eyes. "I hardly even had to penetrate the outer boundaries, let alone the conscious layers of your psyche. When a person is experiencing strong emotions – in your case fear, anger and dread – what they think is magnified and easily picked up by someone with psychic abilities. You were broadcasting like a megaphone."

At a signal from their master, the goblins began to set up the equipment. "But enough of this." Kobalde said impatiently. "Time to stop talking about it." He accepted the electrode pad handed to him by a minion, attaching it to his temple. He grinned at Holly. "Ready?"

Captain Short's stomach dropped into queasy hell. She could feel her mind spinning round and round, looking for somewhere to hide, somewhere to escape to. She most definitely was _not_ ready.

__

An image crackled into life on the screen. It was the ballroom, as Basil saw it.

"In we go." muttered Kobalde

__

and the screen turned red, then black as he crashed through the protective walls around Holly's consciousness.

Captain Short's eyes closed in pain, and she gritted her teeth.

__

An elf with crew-cut red hair spun round in time to see Basil appear before her. They both wore simple white robes.

Basil pinched a fold of the fabric. "The clothes of the mind." he commented.

Holly had frozen in terror, riveted to the spot. Suddenly, she turned and ran, her white-clad form sprinting in the opposite direction as fast as it could. An invisible hand snagged her waist, dragging her back by the midriff. She twisted desperately, trying to escape, but she was powerless.

Basil grinned as she was hauled towards him, waiting until she was about a second away before he released her. This time she flew at him, screaming like a wild animal. With a cold laugh, he struck her across the face. Holly crumpled to the floor immediately, and lay there, unable to move.

The tormented elf collapsed suddenly, falling to her knees as pain exploded through her head.

__

Basil tutted softly, leaning over to inspect his handiwork. "You really shouldn't have done that." he informed her. Holly's only reply was to groan, and turn further onto her side to better hide her face. Basil kicked her in the ribs, sending her spinning onto her back. She let out a small whimper, and lay still once more. "I could have just allowed you to stand by and watch."

Holly's shape suddenly seemed to waver and crack, and in a flash of blue light, the outer shell that had surrounded her exploded into a millions fragments, revealing a smaller, weaker looking Holly.

Captain Short's face seemed to change somehow – as though the façade of bravery and toughness had been stripped away, leaving only the raw emotions of fear, anger and hate.

__

Basil picked up one of the pieces, looking curiously at it. On the outer surface, an image of Holly's mouth snarled and bared its teeth. "Emotional control." he remarked. "The way we hide what we really feel." He threw the piece to the ground and it shattered into even smaller bits. "And one of the strongest I've ever seen."

Holly glared at him through the hair that now had enough length to flop into her eyes. "Leave me alone." she croaked.

Basil ignored her and walked over to a bank of monitors that had just appeared behind her. "The control centre of the mind." he explained. "From here, everything but subconscious thought is accessable…

Kobalde's mouth split into a grin.

__

… including memories." He began to type in commands and press buttons. A few seconds later, a small screen popped up, showing the inside of Captain Short's eyelids. Basil selected a file marked 'Memories'.

"Now then, let's see…" He began flicking through them. Holly's life started to play backwards on the screen, leading her out of the ballroom, back to the freezer, then the swimming pool before he stopped. "Memories are stored backwards – the most recent come up first." He began to 'rewind' them faster, so each image flashed on the screen for a mere nanosecond before it was replaced by the next.

Holly's face convulsed in pain, the speed at which her mind was being unravelled terrifying.

__

The pictures on the screen juddered to a halt, freezing on a scene in a cold concrete cell. An elf in a LEP jump suit sat on a bed, gripping the frame. Holly recognised it as her prison within Fowl Manor, over a year ago.

"A test-run, I think." said Basil's voice. The memory began to play. The image of Holly slowly picked up the bed, and held it for a couple of seconds. The edges of the screen tinted red

and although they did not know why, every fairy in the room knew it meant 'pain'.

__

Holly slammed the bed into the floor, a cloud of dust rising up, and a sharp chip of concrete impacting with one of her knuckles. The area glowed crimson, then just as fast as it had appeared, the colour faded from the screen. The elf rested for a moment, then hefted the bed again, using all her weight to hurl it into the floor.

The memory stopped, and the black landscape returned. Holly was struggling to sit up, and Basil was selecting a memory further back in her archives. Holly was subconsciously glad that he had decided not to flick through them again. In fact, she was subconsciously quite a lot of things, thinking included. Funny, her subliminal awareness whispered, when someone else is in control of my conscious side, my subconscious one suddenly becomes… self-aware. Interesting.

Basil did not seem to be able to sense her thought process. He was engrossed, dedicated to finding the experience that would humiliate her, degrade her and destroy her career once and for all. He made a triumphant noise, and with great ceremony, pressed a large 'play' button that had just appeared in front of him.

Captain Short gritted her teeth and braced herself for what was to come.

__

Holly gritted her teeth and braced herself for what was to come.

*****

(I did mean to repeat the last line, by the way). Well then. Guess what happens next chapter! *evil grin* *Jaws music starts to play* cliffy… cliffy… deda… deda… (Yes, I _am_ mad, to answer your unspoken question.)

*holds up palms* Now, ladies and gentlemen, before you flame with terrible wrath, there were _reasons_ for the OOCness, ok, _reasons_. It was basically just between Ms. H and Mr. B this chapter, and Holly was being seriously messed with, and she may have acted differently in another situation, but for the purposes of this fic, I chose to interpret her reaction like that. I've noticed Baz going a bit weird too, but that's probably just me and the fact that I'm a perfectionist and I know him too well. Metaphorically speaking. Or would it be literately… Awww shucks, I dunno.

Next chapter should be here… before Christmas. I'm going to sack my beta if she doesn't get her act together by next chapter. She's had this for _three_ days, and I got so sick of waiting, I posted it without her. My little sister read through it for me. *sigh* and she says hi. *evil sticky tape waves* *slime whispers* I'm going to kill her someday. She is also called Holly. Along with the other five I know in the 'real' world. *wrings imaginary neck* ARGH! TOO MANY HOLLYS!!

Okey dokey then… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! *watches review count expectantly* almost at the big one-five-o, come one…

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Luv slime xxx – POWER TO THE MUSHROOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT!! (they were feeling neglected… I ain't mentioned them in ages…)


	15. Reliving the past

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Hello again. *looks at all the unrecognising faces in confusion* Oh come on! It's only been *checks 'last update' date* three weeks! OK, that is pretty bad… *looks offended* but for me, you have to admit, that's pretty good! *gets no response* FINE. *huffs* be like that. *sticks out tongue* ;) I must warn you, though, that this chapter came to me under highly strange and random circumstances. *campfire suddenly appears* It was a dark and stormy night… and I was listening to a mixture of Evanescence, Linkin Park and a pinch of t.a.T.u on the side, and for anyone who knows the songs of the two former, they're quite rocky, depressing songs. With lyrics about death, betrayal and that weird feeling when you're 'in between'… so I hold these songs entirely responsible for this atrocity I am soon to inflict on you. Them and the candy sticks.

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TO MY REVIEWERS: *throws out arms* My **darlings** you've been wonderful! Thanks to **kagome-leostargirl**, **sweeydeath02**, **Po-chan**, **bookwurm** (you found it? the cannibalism fic? *wrinkles nose* ain't it sick? *grins wickedly* I'll have your strips for this Short! *watches with a sadistic glee as reviewer runs for the loo*), **Spectra16**, **Ever**, **mei leng **(for both reviewing and checking as it happens – EVERY DAY? Come on mei, that's a bit extreme. Anyway, you volunteered to be my beta.), **Maiden Genius**, **Samantha**, **PAH/R **(I'm addressing that issue below, and for the LAST time ;)), **Blue **(OOC stands for 'out of character'. The 'ness' is kinda me making it my own random word…), **crazygirly007**, **gina **(clever girly for guessing BK IS the eye by chapter 5!! *applauds*), **Cilantra**,** artylover108**, **becca**, and **EMQU**. *hugs poor unsuspecting bunch* You're so lovely…

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A/N: *looks very stern* OK people. Let's go over this one more time. In full, with good grammar and limited screaming. *takes a deep breath* Romance Issues. It's a thorny, thorny subject. So we shall address it pairing by pairing.

****

Holly/Root: This fic is not intended or written as an H/R story. In fact it is a story free from pairings (accept with original characters), though there was implied interest between minor characters earlier on, but under the influence of alcohol. However, I do realise that for some, the situation would seem perfect. Therefore, if you feel the fic would be more interesting/better with that, feel free to interpret it in your own way. I'm a great believer in free interpretation. If you wanna see a relationship, then who am I to stop you? Go ahead. Just please don't expect me to write it 'cos it ain't gonna happen. And for all those who are repulsed by the idea… you shouldn't have a problem should you? *grin* This ain't H/R..

****

Holly/Trouble: Another much debated point. I state again, this fic is not written or intended as an H/T. However, as it was previously, if you dig that 'ship and you want to believe that Hol and Trubs act the way they do 'cos they fancy each other, you are more than welcome to. It's your choice. *crosses arms over chest* fics are what you make them, people. I'm just saying this one is not going to be overtly like that.

*sigh* That's better. Shall we drop the subject now? *winks* Oh, and one last thing about romance… I am thoroughly ashamed to say there is some in this chapter. *shudders* I couldn't help it! Little green things took over the keyboard! So yes, you have been warned. It doesn't amount to too much and it's all memories anyway. Just so you know to look away at the right moments…

*****

A roomful of fairies watched with a sense of morbid curiosity as the pictures bloomed on the screen. A few glanced at Captain Short to measure her reaction; she knelt, head hung, eyes tightly shut, her mouth twisted in pain, both mental and emotional. Trouble Kelp, Julius Root and Foaly where among the few, each worried about her in their own separate ways. Some took a less concerned opinion. Several of the male council members found her behaviour to be weak and cowardly, already considering a review of her position in the unlikely event any of them survived.

Captain Short, however, was in no position to care at that particular moment. Her mind was being slowly torn to shreds by the fairy she was possibly least prepared to deal with and there seemed to be nothing she could do to stop him. Add to that the fact that her most personal and private thoughts, feelings and experiences were being ruthlessly exposed to a group of near-strangers and you had a pretty big distraction.

__

The screen showed a series of briefly appearing images. Moments from the early days of Carmen's relationship with Basil flickered by like a demented clip-show. Holly being introduced to Basil, a spark passing between their eyes; Holly averting her gaze as the couple kissed, feelings painting the figures green and red; Basil catching her eye across a room, bucketfuls of ice crashing into her stomach; Carmen talking to her about him, Holly hiding the emotions that raged inside her but flashed so angrily and persistently in the pixels; Carmen and Basil disappearing hand in hand into their bedroom, while Holly tried to keep it together, distract herself, stop thinking about it; times when he was so close, yet so out of reach; the gut-wrenching, all-consuming need to be near him; the misery of knowing what she was feeling was wrong and twisted that stained her life with guilt; the dread that Carmen or Basil would find out and she would lose them forever; the precautions and little games she played to avoid the feelings and him.

The screen cut to a scene in the flat Holly and Carmen had shared, where he then lived with them. The door flew open and Holly trooped in dejectedly, dumping her bag on the floor and flopping onto their sagging sofa without bothering to greet anyone who happened to be in the immediate vicinity. She sat slumped, eyes closed, for several minutes until a mug of steaming liquid was pushed into her hand. Yawning, she sat up.

"Thanks, Car." she murmured, before realising who had actually provided the beverage. "Oh, sorry Baz. I'm a bit out of it today…"

Basil grinned, lowering himself down next to her. "As I can see. Bad day?"

Holly nodded, taking a large swallow. She suddenly realised where and who she was with. In the flat with him. Seemingly alone. "Where's Carmen?" she asked casually, praying she was just in the bath or something.

Basil grimaced. "She had to work late at the restaurant. Tonight was especially busy for them."

Holly simply nodded, not having the energy for more. Somehow, the tea was draining all the will power right out of her. It was probably the heat. She tensed slightly, uneasy and thrilled at the same time at him being so close. He seemed to sense the tension, and removed the drink from her hands, placing it on the low table before them.

"Come here." he said, grinning. Holly carefully arranged her face into a sceptical half-smile, one eyebrow raised, trying to calm her racing heart. "No, really, come on. I'll give you one of my special massages."

Holly's brain started to scream warnings at her, but she was too tired to hear them. "A special_ massage, eh? And to what would I owe that honour?"_

"I can see you need it. Anyway, there's nothing else to do, save watching re-runs. Besides, you need to learn to let people do things for you every now and then."

She grumbled half-heartedly and sat forward, leaning on the arm of the sofa. Basil flexed his fingers, and started work on the knotted muscles in her shoulders. The tension began to flow from her body in a warm stream, and Holly sank further down into the cushion, starting to fall asleep. Carmen always had said he had a magic touch…

Suddenly, he stopped, and Holly sat up to find his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her cheek. He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips to her mouth.

Holly was so shocked that at first she didn't even realise she had been kissed. When the truth hit her, she jumped to her feet, backing away from him. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked helplessly from a safe distance. Basil got up and followed her, a determined look in his eyes. Holly barely registered her back hitting the wall as she tried to get away. There was nowhere else to go. He reached up slowly, fingers skipping along her cheek and over her lips. Holly's breath started to come in ragged bursts, and her eyes closed for a moment. Forcing herself to fight what was happening, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "No. It's not fair on Carmen. She loves you, she really does. I can't do this to her. She'd never - "

Holly was prevented from speaking by his mouth on hers once more. Her treacherous lips responded, kissing back, and for a single moment, her heart seemed to soar somewhere in the stratosphere. Basil released her, stepping back slightly to give her room to breathe. Holly could do nothing but stand there, gasping gently, staring at him.

Captain Short had by now gone a shade of red never before seen by mortal eyes. In addition to the embarrassment there was also the sensation of having her heart dug out with a blunt spoon. The emotional pain that she had tried so desperately, and largely succeeded, to forget hit her again like a tonne of bricks. Against her will, her eyes began to fill, and one tear slid slowly down her nose.

It was unobserved, however, as all the fairies in the room were concentrating furiously on the screen, some partly against their will. Kobalde had anticipated a few of the more noble ones would look away, so he had placed a simple mind-control in their heads: now, whenever they looked elsewhere, they were drawn back irresistibly to the plasma images. She wasn't getting out of this that easily.

__

Basil smiled gently at her. "Oh, Holly. Haven't you realised? It's not Carmen I love, it was never Carmen. It was always you. Do you remember, when we first met at that fast-food place, that something that passed between us? I knew then. I think you did too."

The figures had by this point lost all resemblance of their original colour. The turmoil of emotions Holly had experienced swamped the scene, angry hues of red, purple, green, yellow, blue, black and blindingly bright white dancing and leaping around them, painting monsters and angels in the air.

As Holly seemed to have lost all motor functions, Basil leaned forward and cupped her chin in his hand. "I love you, Holly Short." he whispered, and kissed her again, more gently this time. Holly allowed herself to get lost in the moment for a while before pulling away, and retreating into her room, locking the door behind her. Basil seemed to understand as he didn't follow or try to talk to her.

Another tear made its lonely way down Holly's scarlet cheek. From the outside, she was the picture of defeat, slumped and hopeless, tormented and helpless against the force that held her. But inside, she seethed. Her subconscious mind had far from given in. Instead, it plotted and schemed somewhere under the surface of Kobalde's perception, testing weaknesses, developing strategies. It was biding its time, waiting for the chance to strike. For strike it would.

__

Holly sat on her bed and let her head drop into her hands. D'Arvit, she thought, D'Arvit D'Arvit D'Arvit. What have you done, you stupid_ girl? She leaned onto her pillow, curling her legs under her until her knees touched her chin. She was in a mess, that was for sure._

Her mind recorded her lying for an hour like that, going over all the options, the guilty ramblings and the sweet, sweet memory of it. The different thoughts jostled for audible space, talking over the top of each other. Tell Carmen, No, don't tell her, Run away with him, How could you, you traitor, He's incred-, ITS WRONG, SO SO WRONG, Run away by yourself, Leave the flat and both of them, Leave Haven, move to Atlantis, Stay and carry on as normal, Stay and be with him without Carmen knowing, Fake your own death, Kill yourself, Kill him, Kill Carmen, KILL THE FREAK WHO INVENTED FEELINGS, Curl up in a corner and wait for it to all go away again, How will you live with yourself, you're repulsive, He loves me! He loves me not, he's lying, D'Arvit, why is life so complicated?

Kobalde almost chuckled. This was entertainment alright.

__

A few days passed in a blur. Fragments of conversations and situations melded together to form a general impression of the guilt and panic. Only a dream escaped the chaos; a nightmare Holly had had two days after it had happened.

She was standing on nothing, surrounded by black nothing, in a world with nothing save two fairies. To her right stood Carmen; to her left stood Basil. They were both calling to her, beckoning her to come as they moved away from her. Holly shouted for them to wait, but they just shook their heads and called harder. Holly stood for a moment, not sure which way to go, then started to run after Carmen. Carmen began to move faster, and Holly saw she would never reach her, so turned around and started after Basil. But he was too far away now, and she wouldn't be able to catch up. She turned back to Carmen, but she was so far away by then that Holly could barely hear her shout. She listened hard, and the buzz separated into words.

"Why Holly? I'm all you have."

"Carmen, wait!" Holly screamed after her, but her best friend just shook her head sadly and grew smaller.

Someone was speaking behind her. Holly spun to see Basil was shouting something too.

"But Holly, I loved you! I'd have given you everything! Why didn't you see that?"

"Come back!" Holly shrieked, spinning again and again as she watched the two people who were most important to her disappear into the distance. She sank down to the invisible and ground and began to sob. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry." The darkness swallowed them and she was left alone. "No." she breathed, and the black started to eat away at her, claiming her feet, then her knees, then her thighs, her waist, her chest, her neck, pouring into her mouth and nose, blinding her and finally submersing her completely.

Holly jerked awake, bolting upright in bed. She was breathing hard, her palms were clammy and her cheeks were wet with tears. Someone was hammering on her door. She pulled herself together and called for them to come in. Carmen burst into the room, hair mussed from sleep.

Seeing the look on Holly's face, she padded over and sat on the bed. "Are you OK?" she asked gently. Holly shuddered and managed a nod. Carmen held out her arms. "Come here." She held her silently and when Holly's breathing eventually calmed, she released her.

"Thanks Car." muttered Holly gratefully. "Bad dream, that's all."

"Care to share? I heard you sobbing and screaming all the way from our room."

Holly looked away. "I – um, I dunno. I'd rather not talk about it, if that's OK."

Carmen nodded. "Say no more. Sometimes you just can't share things." She tucked a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes behind Holly's ear. "You'll be alright now?" Holly nodded. Carmen got out up and walked to the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

"Thank you." Holly whispered to her back before the memory dissolved into another fragment.

Captain Short's subconscious had seen its chance. It pounced on the memory of the dream and found it to be slightly different from the others. Dreams are made up of what's real and what's not, hovering somewhere between fantasy and reality, causing them to be unstable. They could be adapted, changed, even planted. Yes, whispered her subliminal awareness, you didn't think of everything, did you _Mr._ Kobalde. You're going to regret that.

And slowly, carefully, it began to weave a dream into the fabric of memory.

*****

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The days leading up to the meeting in the market, and then the events that actually happened there appeared on the screen in varying stages of detail. The note Basil had slipped Holly, her and Carmen turning up at roughly the same time and the sinking feeling that had filled her as she saw her best friend. She had known what was happening, but she had tried to tell herself it wasn't.

Basil grinned. There was something nasty in it, though at the time Holly hadn't been able to put her finger on what. In her memory, however, it spoke as clearly as words.

"Carmen. Holly. So nice of you to come." he said, speaking unusually loudly. The other fairies in the area were beginning to turn and watch.

Carmen gave him a curious look. "What's wrong, Baz? You sound weird."

Basil's mouth twisted, and he nodded. "We need to talk. The three of us." His voice had risen to almost a shout. More people turned around, sensing in his tone that something interesting was going to happen.

Carmen looked from him to Holly. "What's going on. Holly?"

Holly, however, wasn't listening to her. She was staring at Basil in horror, eyes growing wide. She was shaking her head gently, and she had begun to tremble ever so slightly. "No, no don't." she breathed. "Please. Not here. Not like this."

Carmen glanced at her friend, looking slightly sick. "Holly. Holly, what's happening?"

Basil sighed melodramatically. "I'm afraid Holly's been a naughty girl, Car." He shook his head sadly. "You see, she hasn't been entirely loyal towards you." He turned to Holly, and a sadistic glint appeared in his look. "Have you, Holly?" He tutted as one might to a naughty child. "It's a despicable thing you did, to kiss your best friend's_ boyfriend, the friend that had always been there for _you_." He laughed cruelly. "And then you were stupid enough to believe that I loved you, not her. You're pathetic."_

Carmen had gone very pale, and her features had frozen in shock. "Is this true?" she whispered, searching Holly's face for the lie she wished it was. Holly bit her lip and forced herself to look at her. Carmen gasped. "It is."

"I'm so sorry, Carmen, I - "

"How could you?" she snarled. "I trusted you, I thought… I…" She had to stop. Holly stepped towards her, looking entirely desperate.

"Carmen, please, it was only one - "

Basil snorted. "Oh come on, Holly. At least tell the truth now. It was slightly more than 'one kiss'."

Carmen just shook her head and turned away. The scene flashed with red and orange flames. Actions speak louder than words.

But Basil wasn't finished yet. Oh no. The crowd that had gathered wanted more, and he was happy to give it to them. "Holly's not the only stupid one, Carmen." he continued. She turned to look at him, a mixture of disgust and pain on her face. "You've been completely blind these last few months. Did you honestly think I cared about you for anything other than sex? Did you honestly think I could love_ you?" He smirked. "I've been using you, Carmen."_

It was too much for her. Carmen, who had until then been standing there, shaking, turned and ran, pushing through the crowds. Holly started after her, but her way was blocked by the closing ranks of the spectators. The looks they gave her burned her like acid; the disgust, the sneers, the repulsion. Holly's throat constricted, and she swung round and walked away in the other direction, choking on unshed tears. This time she was not stopped – instead, she stumbled from them, never looking back at Basil. The only thought in her head was to find Carmen, but after a blurred and confused hour, she decided to go home. The street dissolved into the flat, and Holly sank onto the sofa to wait for her friend to return.

Captain Short had begun to rock backwards and forwards, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. Her tongue tasted blood as she bit her lip to keep sobs from escaping. That had been the worst part of the whole twisted experience, seeing him do that to Carmen, having him do that to her. If her emotional control hadn't been shattered she could have simply borne it with a pained expression, but it was still in pieces. It was building itself slowly back up, but it would take a few days until it was at full strength again. Providing she lived that long.

Trouble glanced at her sadly before his gaze was dragged back to the screen. He wished fervently there was something he, anyone, could do, but there was nothing. No one could help her now but herself.

__

The screen swirled with black as Holly waited and waited. Eventually, the door opened, and she jumped to her feet.

"Carmen. Are you OK?"

Carmen just brushed past her, ignoring her. She disappeared into her room, slamming the door behind her. Holly had seen the tears on her face.

She approached the room, knocking gently. "Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee, water? Do you want something to - "

"Just piss off, Holly." Came Carmen's voice through the wood. "I don't want your help, your sympathy, or anything_ from you. I don't want to hear your voice, see you face or even say your name. So just piss off."_

Holly hung her head and bit her lip. "Carmen, I'm sor - "

The door flung open. "How dare you?" she screamed. "You can't just expect this to go away, for me to forgive you, just like that! You betrayed my trust, and I don't know if I'll ever trust you again. I don't know how you could…" She stopped, tears dissolving her words. "I-I can't - " She gave up and began to sob uncontrollably. Holly moved towards her, but she took a step back. "Don't touch me." she snarled, and retreated back to her room.

The countless times Carmen had screamed, countless tears that were cried, and the countless apologies blurred and rippled on the screen. Holly was met with rejection every time, but she kept trying, hour after hour, day after day.

Eventually it was just too much for Carmen. Holly was standing before her, saying those two words and she just cracked. She slapped her as hard as she could across the face.

Holly's head jerked to the side, and when she looked back at Carmen her eyes were full of tears. But her gaze was steady and determined, and suddenly Carmen must have realised. She just stared at her, then broke down.

"Oh God, Holly I'm so sorry."

Holly forced a smile. "Hey, it's OK."

Carmen stepped into her arms, and they stood for a while, holding each other. Carmen eventually pulled back.

She chuckled softly. "How did we let some guy do this to us?"

Holly grinned. "Beats me." Her tone became serious again. "I really am sorry, Car."

Her friend nodded. "I know. Don't worry anymore. I forgive you." She sighed. "I think I forgave you as soon as I saw your face after he told me. I just couldn't admit it. Can you forgive me?"

Holly gave her a look. "Don't be daft. There's nothing to forgive. We've got to get through this together." Carmen nodded. Holly wiped her cheeks with a gentle thumb. "Come on. Let's order a pizza and watch some junk T.V."

Captain Short's subconscious mind pulled back, careful not to disturb its work and examined the new memory. It was a bit rough, but hopefully it would be enough to fool Kobalde. Now all it could do was wait and hope he fell into its little trap…

__

Days flew by, and only fragments of especially difficult or happy times appeared on the screen. One event stood out in detail, however.

Carmen and Holly were sitting on Carmen's bed going through the month's bills when Carmen suddenly stopped. Sensing something was wrong, Holly looked up at her to find her biting her lip and looking worried.

"Holly…" she stuttered. "I think… I think I'm late."

Holly's eyes widened. "What, late_ late?" Carmen nodded unhappily. "When were you due?"_

"Two weeks ago."

Holly seemed to struggle with words. "Have you taken a test?"

Carmen shook her head. "I was too scared of the answer. I wanted to tell you first. What am I going to do if I am?"

Holly leaned forward and grasped her hands. "We'll get through it. The two of us. But we have to find out. Have you bought one yet?"

Carmen pulled a pregnancy test out of her pocket and waved it guiltily. "When I'm done, you have to look first, OK?"

Holly grinned. "Deal." She pointed at the door. "Now get out and do it." she said, winking at her.

A few moments later she returned, handing the test to Holly. She took it, holding it like a snake.

Carmen began to pace. "D'Arvit, I can't watch." she muttered and disappeared into the kitchen.

Holly took a deep breath and looked at the little read-out bar at the back. Blue for no, pink for yes. She closed her eyes. Pink.

"Do you know yet?" called Carmen's voice.

"Yes." replied Holly. "Get back in here."

Carmen came to the door, looking as though she was about to do a bungee-jump down a pressure chute. Terrified.

She saw the look on Holly's face and came and sat on the bed, burying her face in her hands. "D'Arvit." was all she said.

Holly rubbed her shoulders. "Try not to worry about it yet. We'll get through. We always have before."

Carmen began to sob. "What am I going to do, Holly? What am I going to tell him, my parents? I'm only seventy! I can't cope with a baby, I - "

Holly covered her mouth with her hand. "Stop it, Car." she said firmly. "There's no point getting worked up about it. Let's just think this through."

The memory dissolved. Strangely, Holly hadn't remembered the rest of the conversation. Instead, the screen showed a scene in a world of black. Another dream.

Holly and Basil were standing opposite each other, dressed in white robes. Holly had a long pole and was walking towards him with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"You bastard." she spat, taking a swipe at him. He dodged. "Do you even know what you've done? Do you even care about the mess you left?" Another swipe, closer this time. "I nearly lost everything because of you. My best friend, my home." She gritted her teeth and swung the pole towards him. "The man I thought I loved." She was so close now that her next swing would undoubtedly hit him. "And now, my job that I worked so hard to get."

Come on now, Kobalde, urged her subconscious mind. Smile for the birdie.

__

Basil was about to reply when he faltered, looking confused. The shapes of the two figures suddenly seemed to solidify. "This isn't - "

And that was when Holly struck. She brought the staff crashing into him, and he was sent flying, landing hard on his back.

Kobalde shuddered violently, and his face suddenly gained an expression of pain.

__

Holly threw the staff aside, and started after him as quickly as she could, pulling a huge sword from the folds of her robe as she went. In a movement so fast it was barely detectable, Basil stood before her, holding a sword of his own. Holly lunged and he blocked her easily, sending her staggering backwards. Holly twirled and slashed at his side, managing to nick the fabric, but no skin.

Basil's face twisted into a sneer, and he began to attack with vigour. Holly blocked, parried, ducked and dodged, avoiding the blade in a dance with death. She was weakening, as she'd known she would.

Basil seemed to enjoy it. His mouth spread into a cruel smirk as he set into her.

"So you thought you could trick me?" Lunge. "You silly little girl. You just signed your own death certificate." Stab.

Holly leapt aside again, and whirled to bring her blade crashing into his to block his overhead strike. "Get out of my damn head!" she shouted, heaving his blade away from her throat.

"What head?" he snarled, going for the unguarded side of her neck. Holly watched the metal slice through the air and her subconscious mind screamed one word.

"NOW!"

Suddenly she disappeared, to be replaced seconds later by a small, white rabbit. The rabbit back-flipped away, twirling again and again like a ballerina in the air. It landed gracefully on its long feet, ears streaming behind it. It grinned, spread its arms and bowed deeply.

Basil stared at it in shock, sword dropping to his side. The rabbit flashed him a cheesy grin.

That's it, thought Foaly, her mind's given up. It can't take the stress anymore. All over the ballroom, fairies were having similar thoughts. It would certainly seem that Holly had finally cracked…

__

The rabbit did a few more cartwheels before it came to a halt in the centre of the blackness. It pointed upwards and a spotlight suddenly appeared on it. It winked at Basil, and began to tap its foot on the ground.

It started to count in Holly's voice. "A one, a two, a one, two, three, HIT IT!" yelled the rabbit, pointing at a stereo that had appeared to its right to coincide with the last word.

A song burst from the speakers. After a moment, Basil recognised it as a human party record.

The rabbit started to do a step, turn, step, clap routine to the music, shouting above the noise. "Now, don't you all just stand there. Get up and dance!"

There was no longer any doubt in the LEP members' minds. She was off her trolley.

Words began over the music.

'Dale a tu cuerpo   
Alegria Macarena   
Que tu cuerpo es pa darle   
Alegria y cosa buena   
Dale a tu cuerpo   
Alegria Macarena   
Eh, Macarena!'

The rabbit began to do the proper dance routine, throwing its arms out enthusiastically before it, paws down, then paws up. It brought its paws to its shoulders, arms crossed over it's chest, then to the sides of its head.  


Basil still hadn't moved, staring at the creature before him. It was turning slowly round in a little circle, spinning ninety degrees when it reached the end of the sequence.

Holly's subconscious kept her conscious mind spinning, watching Kobalde like a hawk. Finally it judged his guard to be sufficiently down.

__

The rabbit leapt into the air, spinning until it faced Basil again. With one difference. As soon as it landed, it was no longer a rabbit. Holly stood in its place, a gun held in front of her, pointed at Basil's head. Her face was as serious as a nuclear winter.

Basil froze, eyes crossed slightly to look at the barrel aimed at his nose. He swallowed.

"That's right," said Holly coldly. "This is the end of the line. Now, I'll say this one more time." She grinned mirthlessly. "Get out. Of my head."

She pulled the trigger and a nanosecond later, the screen showed only static.

*****

Don't worry, you're not meant to fully understand what's happened/going on. *evil grin* All shall be revealed next chapter, my little nose-miners. 

Phew, that was a long chapter. Sincere apologies again for the fluff (in more ways than one I guess… God, I'm just so darn funny… :D). And also sorry if it was entirely random. The bunny bit was _intended_ to be random, but the rest wasn't, so apologies there. Hope you liked it. *sigh* Was not Holly out of character? Ah well. I really can't stand re-writing it now. *looks highly dramatic* What's done is done.

Next chapter should be up by 2056. I've just done my two-week mid-courses, then I have two weeks back at school and then I have two weeks on work experience (I get to work in a library! Hehe) when I get home later, but have less to do afterwards. Hmm. We shall have to see how that goes. There's one more chapter after this, then an epilogue *whoops* and then I will have completed my first-born, my baby, my first ever story which by then will probably be about a fifth of the size of the new Potter book! *clamps hand to mouth* Ah no, slime, speak not that name, speak not that name! (I feel the need to put the two series on opposite sides of my bookshelf – don't wanna wake up in the night with pages all over the floor, and ink everywhere…). *grins smugly* And then I have new fics planned… another big one like this and a little nine chapter one I think would be fun… *Vampire smile* I'll tell you about 'em after the epilogue… *cackle*

Anyway, thanks for coming here again (what drags you back I know not… not my engaging conversation, that's for sure…) and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!

Luv slime xxxx


	16. Aftermath

**__**

IN WHICH THE LONG-ABSENT AUTHOR MAKES LAME EXCUSES: Hello lovely people! I'm back! *gets only glares* *vicious glares* Oh come on, it can't have been that long this time! *looks at 'last updated' date on her story* damn, it really was… *wince* Oops. Sorry. I honestly didn't mean to! I just had block for this for ages… (some of you may have noticed the trashy songfics I wrote… alas, I admit it, they were H/A but they helped cure my block… *shudders* it was the keyboard, honestly…) and I needed a little time-out for this fic… (Time-out? TIME OUT? you shriek, WHAT THE HELL IS THE GAP BETWEEN THE CHAPTERS? Well… it takes me ages to write chapters (one of the many downsides to being a perfectionist) and I do think about it mostly every day, even if I don't get a moment to write it. By the way, if you care about 'Not Gonna Get Us' I'm about halfway through the next one, then after that there is one more…) and you get the idea *hangs head and wanders off* I shall stop making excuses now…

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TO MY REVIEWERS: *bounces back onto the ff.n stage* you guys have been great once again. I am ten reviews off 200! Woohoo! *briefly wonders why the hell her crappy fic got so many reviews and not all of them being flames, though a high percentage from herself* ah well. *shrug* So anyway, thanks to **roz, Pendragon, allie, MyOwnAntagonist** (to the random comment: why thank you, thank you very much…)**, A Friend, Tie Kerl **(ah no! not the furbies! Please, not the furbies! On the insanity, it was probably me…)**, Princess Arwen Evenstar 77, Dslguy14 **(I think I said this in a review to you once, but I reckon Holly would have a pretty good knowledge of human weaponry as she's recon and has to deal with it. Also, I think fairies probably have sub-machine guns too, though by now, they have probably been outlawed, etc… And when you gonna update your stories anyway? I'm waiting…)**, artylover108 **(*choke* what? You think THIS is better than TEC? Are you mad, girl? Sorry, shouldn't have asked… ;))**, sweetdeath02, Dawningimage, Po-chan **(you write the longest reviews I have ever seen… like a whole little story in themselves…)**, Maiden Genisis, chrysgurl, Ever **(Nope, but he's in another one I have planned… *shameless advertising*)**, SilverButterfly, becca,** and** EMQU.** *turns and stares at the pre-story crap* Frell, this stuff is getting a little out of hand ain't it…

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A/N: There's been a change of plan on the chapter thing. There will now be another chapter after this (that one will be called Truth Hurts, not this one) and then there will be an epilogue. So that will be 17 chapters and an epilogue. It's just I didn't want to put the next bit in this chapter 'cos I got to a good place to stop and if I'd have continued it probably would have been another 3 weeks… so enjoy.

*****

A collective gasp of pain and shock rose into the air around the assembled crowd of fairies, captives and captors alike. The worst affected were the goblins – many let their weapons fall to the ground, cradling their aching heads in their hands. The LEP were less stricken – a moment of splitting agony was soon replaced by a dull throbbing sensation. But still bound, by physical if no longer mental means, they were helpless

In the centre of the room, the reactions were rather more extreme. Kobalde had been forced to his knees, joining Captain Short on the floor. His whole face was a mask of pain, eyes tightly shut, white skin drawn into contours and folds. He was shaking violently, shoulders jerking erratically and a small trickle of blood was flowing from one nostril over his lips and down his chin.

Holly wasn't much better. She had folded in half over her bent legs, head resting on the floor, as if to keep it from being split open by some invisible force. Her fists were clenched, bound as they were behind her back, and her mouth was beginning to fill with blood from her bitten lips. Slowly, as the pain began to subside, she eased herself back into a sitting position, wincing as the stabbing sensation gradually lessened.

Surveying the room around her, she tried to catch the eye of one of the officers, to somehow make a plan. All avoided her gaze, going red when they saw her looking at them and quickly turned away. Holly sighed inwardly. Here it was then. The beginning of the end for her career. Providing she was still breathing tomorrow.

Three fairies, however, did not try to ignore her. Commander Root, Captain Kelp and Foaly all seemed to be checking she was alright with their eyes when her vision focused on them. All three smiled at her, trying their best to be reassuring. Holly tried to put a message in her look: What's the plan? What do we do now? but no one seemed to know. Kobalde and his heathen mob were still out of action, but they didn't have long before this was rectified and control was taken once more. Indicating with her head the cable ties that encircled her wrists, Holly mimed pulling her fists apart. Or at least she attempted to.

Root nodded and turning to the other two, began to whisper. Holly saw Trouble reach for something in his pocket, but she didn't see what it was. Root turned back and jerked his head at Kobalde, miming the words 'Distract him'. Holly nodded and slowly got to her feet. She began to wobble unsteadily to the door, breaking into a stumbling run as she went. Kobalde's head shot up and he seemed suddenly to react, drawing the weapon at his hip and flicking the setting down to just below 'stun'. He aimed it at the elf's back and squeezed the trigger.

Holly grunted as the charge ripped through her and felt her legs buckle and fold underneath her, bringing her crashing face-first to the floor. She struggled back up, though without her hands to help her it took several more seconds than she had intended. It was enough time for Kobalde to issue orders to the goblins and before she knew what was happening, she was dragged to her feet and frog-marched back to stand in front of their captor.

Kobalde rose slowly from the floor, looking curiously at her. Holly tried to ignore this and simply poured all her hatred for him into the glare. He didn't seem to notice.

On his feet again, he began slowly to circle her, before coming to rest before her once more. "You tricked me, Holly." he murmured, leaning in closer to inspect her face. She couldn't quite force herself to snarl.

Her eyes registered the red liquid running down his lips. "You're bleeding." she whispered tonelessly.

Kobalde's eyes flashed for a moment, and a look something like triumph shone in his face. He brought a hand to his mouth and came away with it wet with blood. "So I am." he muttered, and his gaze became ever more piercing, digging right into Holly's face. Captain Short felt like she was being dissected bit by bit; he just kept stripping things away to reveal more.

Kobalde cocked his head on one side. "You tricked me." he repeated. The sneer in his look came out in full force. "That was an exceedingly stupid thing to do, Captain Short. I will take a whole new joy in killing you in the slowest and most painful way possible."

Holly pulled herself together enough to growl weakly. She swallowed. "That's what you think." She grinned smugly. "Though mind you, you're not very good at killing me, are you? You've been trying to for most of the evening. Let's see…" She pretended to be thinking about it. "You tried to kill me when I broke out of the ballroom. Didn't even come close. You tried to kill me in the swimming pool. That fell through too. You tried to kill me in the freezer, which, I will say, you did, but evidently you didn't do a very thorough job, as I'm still here." She paused, grinning vindictively at him. "So do excuse me if I fail to take your threat too seriously."

Kobalde's lips split into a delighted smile. "Well, you know what they say, practise makes perfect." Holly shivered, unable to fully conceal the fear she felt. "Best of all, this time the rest of this sorry bunch will be there to watch. An example, if you will. A lesson in the way not to behave, in what happens to those who try to resist me." Kobalde sighed and turned to his minions. "I'm getting rather bored of all this banter. Bring the kit."

It was as the goblins' ears relayed the order to their brains that the counterattack struck.

*****

Foaly, Commander Root and Captain Kelp looked on as Captain Short slowly sat up from her prostrate position on the floor, craning their necks to see if any visible damage had been done. She was possibly their last hope of getting out of this mess – she seemed to be the only one to be able to exert any sort of influence over Kobalde, the only one who could distract him sufficiently. Possibly, also the only one he cared about. Not that they'd be telling her that any time soon.

Holly's eyes flew desperately over the crowd, searching for a friendly face, a fellow conspirator. She was met with rejection everywhere she looked, and the disappointment and sadness were written clearly in her features. Finally her gaze rested on Foaly and he winked at her, grinning from ear to ear. She seemed considerably cheered. She mimed pulling her hands apart. Commander Root, seeing and understanding this, nodded to her and turned to Foaly and Trouble.

"We need to find a way to cut these bonds." he whispered, careful not to alert the groaning thug nearest them. "Has anyone got a knife, or something sharp?"

Awkwardly, Trouble twisted his shoulders until he could reach his pocket and slipped his bound hands inside. After a few seconds they emerged holding a small switchblade.

"Confiscated it on the way here." he explained. Root grinned inspite of himself and turned back to Captain Short.

"Distract him." he mimed. Seeing her nod and begin to get to her feet, he turned hurriedly back to the others. "We need to do this quickly. We're only get one shot, so let's make sure we do it right. Trouble, I want you to spread the word amongst the officers: on my signal, go for the nearest goblin. Disarm first, then disable. Knock them out only. I don't want a body count at the end of this. Use the knife to free as many as possible. Find those with knives and get them doing it too." He manoeuvred his own hands so that Trouble, who was by now untied, could cut his bonds. "Foaly, I need you to spread the message to the civilians: when you see the officers move, break and take cover. Get out of the room, get out of the building and don't look back or hesitate. As soon as you can, contact HQ and get a team down here with plenty of firepower and plenty of men. We'll hold them off until you've gone, then split up and scatter through the manor. Concentrate on getting the Council out first. If they go down, we're in big trouble." He grinned at Captain Kelp. "Pardon the pun. Now move. Good luck."

Trouble paused for a second. "What about Kobalde?"

Root grinned, and there was something scary in it. "Oh, don't you worry about him. I'm sure Captain Short and myself can take care of him."

The captain smirked back, before moving towards the nearest officers, while Foaly edged over to a small knot of civilians, their messages spreading faster than wildfire through the fairies. Root stayed where he was, watching carefully as Holly came crashing to the ballroom floor and was dragged back to Kobalde by a couple of goblins who seemed better off than the others. As he watched, Root saw something strange: instead of issuing his orders directly into his minions' heads, The Eye was using voice command. The orders were met with slight delay every time, as though the grunts were hearing them, then deciding whether or not to follow them. The indecision lasted for a mere second only, but it was definitely there. Root guessed correctly that the little stunt Holly had pulled off in her head had had farther reaching consequences than one would at first have thought. At another guess, that his mind-controlling powers had been severely damaged. Though what good this did them, heaven knew.

The commander watched as his officer traded insults and threats with her tormentor. She was struggling to continue fighting and keep the more negative side of her feelings for him out in the open. She had already slipped once, and against his will, Root felt her embarrassment, her shame. She didn't want this, anyone could see that. Tough nuggets, his mind snapped, she's all that's left in the way of hope. If she gets knocked about a bit on the way, that's her problem. Root shook himself. He needed to watch for weaknesses.

The banter that had been buzzing between them seemed to be running to a stop. The commander tensed, looking around him to check everyone was in position. They were all watching him out of the corners of their eyes, ready to go. Root nodded slightly to warn them, then behind his back, held out his hand, fingers splayed. He slowly began to bend each finger down – five, four, three, two, one – then with a shout of "Now!" he swept his hand out before him. The signal to go. Grinning almost viciously, the officers of the LEP jumped to their feet and rushed at the nearest goblins.

*****

The ballroom was in chaos. Everywhere you looked, unarmed LEP officers were tackling and grappling with goblins, some still with their hands behind their backs. If times had not been so serious, The Eye would have rolled his eyes. Not a single one of them had drawn its weapon.

"Shoot them!" he roared over the din. "Use the guns!"

The goblins stared at him for a few seconds, then fumbled in their holsters. Meanwhile, civilians were streaming from the doors, pushing and shoving to get through. Kobalde did what he could with his own gun, but staying on the run to avoid bursts from the few LEP members who had managed to secure weaponry threw all his attempts at aiming right off, and he hit nothing. Holly had melted into the crowd and was nowhere to be seen. Kobalde cursed. It would seem his toy had gone missing. Well, she would be found. To use a cliché, she could run but she could not hide.

Foaly had stationed himself next to the double doors and was trying to get as many people through as possible without causing a crush. At least the Council was clear now, that was one less thing to worry about. Hysteria was spreading through the crowd as the laser blasts flew overhead and the centaur was finding it harder and harder to keep the people calm. He had never been a social sort of creature. The numbers were gradually thinning though, and he could see the back of the crowd at last. They might make it after all…

Trouble Kelp was up to his neck in the conflict. He had helped take out three goblins already, and recognising him as some sort of leader, four of the scaly beings had launched themselves at him. It seemed that at close quarters, goblins were much more comfortable using teeth and claws than sophisticated firearms. Captain Kelp winced as one such claw slashed his cheek. Another scar for the collection. He slapped the goblin open-handed, sending it spinning round and lunged for its weapon as it staggered. Flicking the setting down, he let rip.

Commander Root had seen Holly slip into the crowd when Kobalde's attention had been drawn momentarily elsewhere and started after her. She was threading her way through the heaving mass, working her way behind Kobalde, near to a door. When Root finally caught up with her, he was rather out of breath to say the least. That girl could move fast when she needed to.

"Captain." he managed to gasp, catching hold of her arm. Holly spun, then seeing who it was, grinned.

"Wondered when you'd show up. You and me against Kobalde?" Root nodded and something very like vindictive triumph gleamed in Holly's face. "Do you have a plan?"

"Of sorts. Knock him out and lock him up pretty much covers it."

"Sounds good to me."

"Thought it would. Not here though. We have to lure him away. You up to it?"

Doubt flickered across her face for a second. "Of course." she said, in a voice she hoped was steady and even. "Where do we meet?"

"I'll go through the east doors just ahead of you. You get him to follow you into the connecting corridor on the left and we'll ambush from there."

"Got it." She turned and began to push her way back towards Basil.

"Good luck!" Root called after her. Although she didn't turn, he could imagine the look on her face. Basil Kobalde was going to wish he'd never been born when she was finished with him.

The All-Seeing-Eye was desperately trying to keep the situation under control. He had lost at least half of his hostages, a good tenth of his army were already out of action and the whole cursed thing was getting worse by the second. He roared orders over the din, but only the goblins closest to him heard, and even then, most ignored him, content simply to rip and tear any LEP flesh that came within two metres.

Suddenly, he caught sight of Captain Short and a vicious grin spread over his face. "Gotcha." he muttered.

"Round them all up." he yelled over the crowd. "Get them back in here like before, But leave the girl. She's mine." He tried to put some pressure on their minds, but that part of him was too numb and shocked to respond yet. He didn't know when it would recover, or _if_ it would recover at all. Deciding all he could do in the ballroom had been done, he quickly turned and hurried after the fast retreating form of Captain Short, adjusting the setting on his weapon as he went.

Holly had carefully positioned herself in plain view of Kobalde, before pretending to flee for the exit. She turned once to check he had seen and saw him starting after her, pistol drawn and murderous gleam in his eyes. She shivered and ran a little faster. Not too fast, she chided herself, let him catch up. Don't lose him now. She saw Root clear the doors ahead of her and gritted her teeth. This is it Short, she told herself. Don't screw it up.

*****

Oops, did it again. *evil grin* cliffy… hope you liked that chapter. It was quite a bit shorter than they have generally started to be, but not too short I hope. Hope it wasn't too shite…

I will update this as soon as I can, but that may be in at least 3 weeks. You see, I am going to Devon for three weeks in two days (no channel five – I'll miss CSI *sob* - no internet, no anything within twenty miles… unless you count the Quay…) and I won't be able to update there. If it come to that I should do writing down there, but it will be onto paper and my writing frankly stinks on paper. Ah well. It's either that or before this Friday (the 1st of Aug.) and as I am on holiday now (finally!) it's possible but I really have to do my three oh-so-lovely science investigations before I go… so who knows. It will come, but it may be a little bit of a wait… Then again, you'll have plenty to read in summer… everyone updating like mad… READ 'THE DAWN OF CHANGE' BY RED MOON KREE! HELP ME PUT PRESSURE ON THE AUTHOR TO BLOODY WELL UPDATE!!! *sob* it's been forever…

*sings most tunefully to something which sounds like a mixture of several Evanescence songs* review, oh review, my darlings, review and REVIEW SOME MORE!

Luv slime xxx


	17. Truth hurts

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I'm not even going to make excuses this time. I simply offer this chapter as a peace offering and an apology for being such a lax author. *sob* I'm sorry! But this chapter is quite long, I will have you know…

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TO MY REVIEWERS: Thank you a million times to **morningstar**, **Ladeda**, **Lessa3** (I find the number-assignment so cruel and heartless…*tragic pose*), **flamaria13** (may I just say you were amazingly dedicated this indefinitely-long-period-of-time. I felt so very guilty every time you reviewed and the chapter wasn't ready!), **Ever** (I LOVE Evanescence… so good… *sings* hellooooooo, I'm still here, all that's left of yesterdayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-heeeeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeee-eeeeeeee-eeeeeeeeee… have you ever tried to sing that on one breath? It's really hard...), **Cecile**, **Mutated** **Beaver**, **sweetdeath02**, **SillyCecile** (though you've also reviewed as morningstar… ;)), **Ario**, **EvilSpirit**, **TeenTypist**, **Mage** **Kitty** (Amy Lee is cool… and did you know that she designs all the clothes from her videos?), **TazMoon**, **Lynx**, **Lady of the Loch**, **SilverButterfly**, **allie**, **Pendragon**, **EMQU**, **Super Nova**, **Maiden Genisis**, **chrysgurl**, **FictionFan**, **CG007**, **Winged** **Gardian**, **OceanChild** and **becca8**. *gasps for breath* incredibly long or what. And this chapter is specially dedicated to you lot, 'cos I feel so very guilty about my entire shiteness when it comes to updating.

****

A/N: (Finally, I thought we'd never get here…) This is the last chapter, then after this there is an epilogue. Watch out for slight slushiness towards the end. I'm sure you'll be able to cope. Enjoy!

*****

Holly reached the double doors a few seconds after Root's elfin form had disappeared past them and slipped through as innocently as she could. The exits were clear now: the civilians had escaped and what officers were left were engaged in combat with the remaining goblins. Captain Short caught a glimpse of Trouble Kelp surrounded by a pile of unconscious reptiles. She allowed herself a fleeting grin before casting her eyes over her shoulder. Sure enough, Kobalde was still following her, and he was getting closer by the second.

The captain dodged through the debris that had been scattered by the flight of the hostages, pausing only to cut her bonds on a particularly sharp piece of glass, and headed towards the small door to her left. Through the noise of the crowd she heard footfalls behind her, before bursting into the corridor and coming face to face with her commander.

Root signalled to her to start down the corridor while he positioned himself behind the slightly open door. Silently, he waited, until the barrel of a pistol poked itself through the opening. He held his breath.

Kobalde surveyed the passage. Apart from Holly's retreating back, it appeared to be empty. He advanced into the space and after another quick look around, began sprinting after the elf before him. Root pushed the door shut and as Kobalde whirled at the sound, yelled "Now Holly!" down the corridor.

Basil faltered for a moment, cursing himself for being led into the trap. However, the sight of two fully trained LEPrecon officers charging towards him from opposite directions soon spurred his mind back into action and drawing his weapon, he ran straight at Captain Short.

Holly didn't slow down. When it came to flyboy grandstanding she was the best. As the two grew closer and closer, Kobalde aimed his gun over his shoulder, letting off stray blasts in the hope one would find its mark – the commander. Root dodged them easily, weaving from side to side, but it slowed him down and Kobalde was fast gaining ground.

Holly and Basil were seconds from impact. Captain Short gritted her teeth and angled her shoulders slightly before she barrelled straight into the other elf's chest, sending them both flying several metres through the air before crashing to the floor. As soon as her head cleared from the force of the impact Holly started groping for Kobalde's hands in the tangle of bodies, trying to keep them off her throat. With a huge heave, Basil rolled her off him and promptly fell on her, crushing the air out of her lungs for the second time in thirty seconds.

Holly's breath was forced from her with a gasp of pain. Commander Root barely spared her a glance as he went straight for the gun Kobalde had dropped with the impact. Seeing this, Basil abandoned Holly and scrabbled across the floor in an attempt to reach it first. Captain Short recklessly caught his foot and held on grimly. Kobalde kicked frantically until his captured limb impacted with something soft and was released as Holly slammed, groaning, into the wall behind her.

Seeing he would never beat Root now, Kobalde struggled to his feet and tripping and stumbling, ran for all he was worth away from the pair and out through the door ahead. Now in possession of the aforementioned firearm, Root fumbled the trigger to life, loosing blasts as accurately as he could, but Basil was long gone by the time his shots came close. Swearing foully, the commander walked back to his officer.

Holly was struggling to regain a more vertical position when he reached her. Her nose was bleeding, her hair was hopelessly tangled, her dress had a new, longer tear and a bruise was already forming around her right eye. She managed to sit up and lent against the wall for a few seconds, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to stem the blood flow.

Root looked down at her, grinning. "You alright?" Holly confirmed this thickly. "If I didn't know you better I'd say you enjoyed that." He held out his hand, and she gripped his wrist, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

Sniffing experimentally, and finding no more blood pouring from the injured facial feature, Holly grinned back. "Good thing you know me better, eh?" She bent over and wiped her face on the bottom of her skirt. "Blood isn't my colour." she explained, straightening. Root resisted the urge to snigger. "OK, I'm ready. Let's go."

She cast a longing glance at the gun her superior held. Catching the look, he shook his head. "No way, Short. Find your own."

*****

Foaly ushered the last civilian through the door and checking there were no more to come, followed the others out. He quickly located a vidphone, rightly suspecting that no one else had yet managed to call for help. He spoke the location into the receiver, the voice recognition system dialling the number for him. A bored sounding gremlin answered the phone.

"This is the LEP emergency line, how can I help?"

"This is Chief Technical Consultant Foaly. We have a situation, repeat, we have a situation. The owner of the manor, one Basil Kobalde has co-ordinated an army of goblins and taken all present LEP officers and civilians hostage. The civilians have now escaped the ballroom, but the officers are still in there fighting the goblins. Kobalde has disappeared, but two officers are after him. We don't have weapons and the injury toll is rising. We need backup immediately, repeat, backup immediately." He hit the 'end call' button and began to run for his life, out of the manor.

The gremlin stared, shocked, at the screen before him. The location of the caller was pulsing gently in the corner of the screen. "D'Arvit!" the fairy finally swore and began punching in a number. "Ops? We have a situation. Yeah, I'm serious. Foaly just called. I'm sending you the file now."

And with that, he also ran for his life. To the nearest Captain.

*****

By the time Captain Short and Commander Root had made it out of the corridor, Kobalde was nowhere to be seen. Both swore furiously, though Holly's obscenities were directed far more explicitly at the escapee in question. Root cast her an amused look before holstering his newly acquired weapon. Holly eyed it jealously. Typical male to hog all the guns.

She folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him questioningly. "So what's the plan, sir? Frond forbid you don't have one."

Root glared at her. "Will it make you feel better if I let you hold the gun for a few moments?"

Holly resisted the urge to nod. "I just meant, sir, that if you will permit me to tell you, I have an idea of where Kobalde will go next."

Root noticed the smooth way she had used his surname, without even a hint of hesitation. Evidently their little punch-up had helped reawaken her professional detachment.

The commander decided to let her cheek slide this once. "Go on then. Unless of course you'd rather wait until he's disappeared on a rather more permanent basis, and then tell me you told me so."

Holly grinned. "Tempting." she admitted. "No, he'll be making his getaway as soon as possible. It's exactly like him to skip town whenever there's trouble. At a guess, I'd say he's heading to his 'getaway vehicle', probably in a car park under the manor."

Root raised an eyebrow. "Getaway vehicle? Don't you think that's a little clichéd?"

Holly shrugged. "If you were fleeing a crime scene with the LEP hot on your heels would you walk or drive?"

"Good point."

"We need to find some stairs, or a lift shaft at the least. He should be held up slightly by the pockets of LEP personnel and civilians he happens across, but it'll be tight."

"Good thinking, Short. I knew there had to be a reason you were in Recon. Let's go."

Grinning, Holly led the way from the antechamber into the large corridor on the right, sliding slyly along the walls to minimise shadows and light distortions. Root followed, gun raised, finger resting on the trigger. At the first intersection, they split up, Holly taking the left fork, Root taking the right. Finding no stairs leading down and a dead-end, Holly turned back the way she had come and suddenly noticed the faint sound of voices coming from Root's end of the passage. She recognised her commander's voice, but couldn't distinguish any of his words.

Soundlessly, she crept towards him, body poised and ready for a fight should she meet one. She turned a corner and saw a sight she hadn't expected to see.

*****

Basil cast a glance over his shoulder, and seeing he was not being pursued, allowed himself a grin. He wiped the blood from his mouth – some his, some Holly's – and ran towards the under-street car park. He hadn't specifically prepared a form of escape in the event his master plan failed, but that wasn't to say he didn't already have three magna-cars lined up for his personal transport. An elf with his kind of money had that kind of thing.

Rounding a corner, he was greeted by the sight of a fully armed LEP team patrolling the area. Skidding, he swerved round and legged it down another corridor. The team didn't even notice. They happened to be looking the other way. Looking at a fat elf in a dinner jacket and a female in a dress sneaking up behind him.

*****

One of the more observant LEP officers levelled his weapon at Holly. "Freeze, elf." he snapped. "Who are you?"

Holly rolled her eyes. Typical. She even worked with this guy. "Do you realise your incompetence could have cost Commander Root here his life?" she asked sternly. The officer gaped. "Had I been armed, he could be dead by now, along with several other members of your team, had I had backup."

The sprite hung his head. "Sorry, Captain Short, sir, I didn't recognise you."

"It's not about recognition, Corporal. It's about doing your job properly."

The unfortunate officer muttered a few more apologies and scurried off to check the surrounding area.

Root was grinning. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were after my job. Did you find anything?"

"Negative, sir." Holly ignored the looks a couple of sprites were giving her. "Just a few bedrooms and stairs going up. Dead end."

"Alright, let's keep going in this direction." He turned to the team. "We need to find the substreet level, and quickly. The perp should be heading there now. Captain Short will brief you on the way."

The squad leader did a double-take. "Captain Short, sir? Are you sure she should be coming? I mean, the dress for a start – "

"She comes." snapped Root. "She's the expert on the perp, we need her to go after him. Any other doubts you may have I suggest you address to her personally." The look on Holly's face complimented this statement perfectly. The corporal shrank back into line.

They continued along the passage. As they went, Holly filled them in on what was already known about Kobalde's criminal personality, careful to avoid talking about how he had actually demonstrated his powers. She was not in the best of moods. Apparently the team had no spare firearms or weapons, and the empty holster at her hip irked her. Captain Holly Short did not like to be unarmed in the face of danger.

After perhaps a minute of searching they found a flight of downward stairs. Holly's shoes clattered noisily in the confined space and she thought longingly of her LEP issue boots. They reached the bottom of the stairs only to find a locked door. One of the officers swore, but Commander Root wasn't so easily put off. He unceremoniously grabbed the buzz baton from an unsuspecting corporal's holster and jammed the end into the swipe-lock. The door was open in a matter of seconds, the mechanism hissing and crackling.

Holly grinned. "Looks like we've found the car park, boys." she muttered, surveying the vast, low-ceilinged room.

*****

Kobalde cut across a four-way intersection, heading for the sounds of goblin voices. The team looked shocked to see him.

"S-sir," one fairy managed to mutter "There are LEP teams in the manor. They're after us."

Basil rolled his eyes. "Of course they are, you mentally challenged simpleton!" And without another word, he snatched the laser from the goblin's fist and hurtled down the steps towards his escape.

*****

Kobalde spun at the sound of a door opening behind him. Seeing him, a full LEP rapid response team, complemented by two elves he recognised as Commander Root and Captain Short brought their weapons up to aim at his chest. All except Holly, who didn't appear to be armed. Well, that was one less complication. With a movement so fast it was hard to see, the fugitive aimed his weapon straight at her.

The officers around Holly froze. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. What was it about men that made them always point guns at females? For a while no one moved. Until Holly began to walk towards Kobalde.

"Short, what the hell are you doing?" hissed the commander from somewhere behind her. Then he noticed something. Behind her back, where Basil couldn't see them, Holly was holding a pair of handcuffs.

Kobalde adjusted his aim so that the red laser dot reappeared on her chest. "Come any closer and I'll shoot." he warned.

Holly kept walking. "No you won't." she said quietly. "It would be too easy for me to die like this. Quick. Painless. That's not what you want, and we both know it."

He sneered. "Dead is about my only requirement at the moment. I've caused a nice amount of pain already."

Holly's feet moved steadily forward. "Ah yes, but you're forgetting something. You pull that trigger and you'll be unconscious in nanoseconds." She was barely five metres from him now. "Or you can come quietly right now, and wake up knowing where you are." Four metres. "Either way, it ends here, Baz. There's no way out of it now." Three metres. "End of the line." Two.

Basil's composure was starting to slip. "D'Arvit, Short, do you honestly think I won't shoot? Because believe me, I will and then – "

He stopped as the gun barrel pressed into Holly's chest. Gently, almost tenderly, she reached up and removed the weapon from his slack hand. She looked him defiantly in the eye as she dropped the laser to the floor, and reached for his wrists. Strangely, he found he couldn't resist her. Stepping close she pulled his arms around his back. Kobalde closed his eyes and breathed in her scent, revelling in her close proximity. Holly seemed to do the same before snapping the steel rings together.

She stepped back. "Basil Kobalde, you are under arrest on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, theft, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms, blackmail… anything else I've missed out?"

Kobalde's hard shell of composure slid down immediately. "Plenty." he spat.

Holly sensed movement behind her, and stepped to one side to allow the officers access to their criminal. With a look of disgust playing on her lips, she turned away, heading back to the door where Commander Root was waiting.

The older elf clapped a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Nice work, Short. Well done." Holly nodded soundlessly, too drained for words. "Proceed to the temporary base." he continued. "Get yourself checked out by a medic. They've set up by the entrance to this area. Wait for me there." She nodded again, and turned numbly towards the exit. She seemed to be surrounded by some sort of force field that kept her separate from the rest of them. It was almost as though they were in another world.

*****

Foaly was there to greet her when she cleared the control collar. He slung a hairy arm companionably over her shoulders, steering her gently towards the medic van. Holly couldn't help but grin when she saw Captain Trouble Kelp sitting there, a harassed looking warlock fussing over him. When the medic saw her, he groaned.

"Oh no. Not you. I've heard about you. You're the one who's been shot, drowned, frozen to death, killed, brought back to life, magically tortured, mentally tortured… anything else I didn't hear about?"

Holly grinned. "I had a bit of a punch up. Black eye, bleeding nose. Oh, and someone tried to strangle me too."

The medic glared at her. "Remind me to tell Commander Root you need watching more closely."

"Believe me, I know." said the commander's voice from behind them. Holly spun warily, then seeing that the new arrival posed no threat, relaxed again.

"Did you get the little piece of filth, Commander?" asked Trouble with only a slight note of vindictiveness in his tone.

Root shot a look at Holly, who was busy avoiding eye contact. "Yeah. We got him. All thanks to the Captain."

Trouble took the hint from Holly's behaviour and changed the subject. "Are we going to get recovery leave for this?"

Commander Root was prevented from answering by a flustered looking sprite who had just materialised next to his elbow.

"Sir, it's the perp. He says he wants to talk to Captain Short. Something about a child." He glanced suspiciously at Holly. "He's saying he has a right to know what happened to it."

Root turned to Captain Short, who was suddenly looking distinctly unwell. "He may have a point. Legally, if he demands it, as the father he at least has a right to the knowledge."

Holly concentrated on the concrete, gritting her teeth. When she had finally composed herself, she looked up with a new determination in her eyes. "Fine. Where is he?"

"He's refusing to clear the control collar."

"Foaly, Commander, you're with me. There is no way in _hell_ I am talking to him on my own." She glared at them. "Let's go."

*****

As soon as he saw her, Basil tried to start towards her. "Holly, I have a right to know. As the father, I need to know what happened to my child."

Holly was evidently wrestling with her emotions. "Oh, so now you want to know? You wait ten years to find out?"

"Holly, I didn't know about the pregnancy. If I had – "

"You would have done exactly the same. Cut the crap, Kobalde. It's not doing anything for you."

"So will you tell me, or do I have to take Carmen to court?"

Holly shook her head in disgust. "No. I'm warning you though, if you so much as go within fifty metres of her, I will kill you. And not just mentally this time." Kobalde nodded. "Carmen…" Holly stopped, biting her lips, old pain awakened once more. "She didn't know what to do. She didn't know if she wanted to keep the baby, give it away, have an abortion… in the end she didn't have to make the decision." Holly sighed. "She miscarried. The doctors said it would have been a little boy." She sneered in his face. "They also said the emotional stress was a big contributing factor. How does that feel, Kobalde? You caused the death of your own son."

He was speechless for a moment. "I never… oh Frond, Holly, if I'd known…"

Holly couldn't stand to listen to any more of his excuses. Turning on her heel, she stormed back to the medic's van, tears prickling her eyes.

"Holly, please, wait." he called after her. "Holly, there's something I need to tell you…" She was about to turn the corner. "D'Arvit Holly, I think I still have feelings for you."

She froze. Suddenly it all erupted, all the stored hate, all the held-grudges, all the painful memories, swamping her and taking her over completely. She whirled, apocalyptic look on her face.

"You _BASTARD_!" she screamed, and rushed at him, wishing more than anything to punch him until he was black and blue. "How _dare_ you, you complete and utter _bastard_?!"

Root saw in her eyes what she wanted to do, and as she sailed past him, grabbed one of her arms. Catching onto the situation, Foaly grabbed her other and dug in his four hooves.

Holly tried to wrench herself free. "Let me _go!_" she yelled, tugging desperately.

Root held on grimly. "Keep it together, Holly. Don't lose it, not for him. Don't give him the satisfaction."

Holly screamed curses at him, but he wouldn't let go. She was no match for the two of them physically, not in her condition. That didn't stop her trying to reach Kobalde though. 

"You _BASTARD_, you spend all evening trying to kill me, then you tell me that? What is this, your sick plan to get a few years knocked off your prison sentence?"

"Holly, I mean it. I don't know how… but ten years ago… those feelings, they were real. I know it. And now… I tried to tell myself I didn't still love you, tried to convince myself, but it doesn't work for long."

"How can you say that? You do _not_ have feelings for me. You hate me. You ruined my life once, now you're back to do it again! Don't give me crap about real feelings ten years ago. If those feelings were real then why the hell did you leave?"

Basil hung his head. "I'm still not sure. I was terrified of losing you and messing up your life."

Holly stared at him in horror. "Oh, so because you so hated the thought of leaving me and messing up my life you did both?" She started to struggle again. "What do you think I am? Stupid?"

"I wasn't thinking, Holly. I can't explain it. I just know I loved you then, and I can't hide from the fact that I love you now."

Captain Short was weakening. Her emotional control, already building on the remains of its old self, had been smashed once more and tears streamed freely down her cheeks. She kept fighting though.

"No, Kobalde, no, you do not love me. You do not tell me you love me after what you've done to me, what you've done to my best friend. You do not hurt me like this again."

"I'm so sorry. I never meant to break your heart, Holly, you have to kn – "

"_Break_ my heart? _Break_ it? Did you learn nothing from raping my mind? You didn't just _break_ my heart. You shattered it into a million and one pieces, and I've spent the last decade trying to pick them up!"

Basil looked taken aback. "I didn't realise I hurt you that muc – "

"Oh don't flatter yourself. It wasn't you that did, you just cracked it. It was watching Carmen going through living hell, all because of you. Except you can't understand that because you've never cared about someone like that. You don't know what's it's like to care about someone other than yourself!"

"That's not true. I care about you! Why can't you just see that?"

"Because I don't want to!" she screamed, her voice breaking as she struggled weakly against her restraints. Suddenly she fell quiet, slumped between them. Tears were flowing far more freely down her face. "Because I don't want to." she repeated so quietly that Basil had to strain to hear her.

A glimmer of hope shone in his eyes for a second. "So you do still love me then, somehow."

Holly shook her head feebly, but her face spoke more clearly than words.

"Tell me what I can do to make it up to you. You know I'll do it."

She looked away, then brought her eyes up to his for one last time. "Tell me you don't love me. Tell me it's all been a lie, a con to get you out of that little bit of prison time. Tell me you're a lying, cheating bastard, and you hate me."

He looked away. "I can't Holly. It's not true."

A fresh wave of agony broke over her. "Then lie to me!" she almost shouted at him.

They were both silent for a moment. Basil looked sadly at her. "Please, Holly? Why can't we make this work? We would be good together, can't you see that?"

She shook her head, and she could almost visibly be seen collecting her scattered wits. "Ten years, Baz. You had ten years to work it out, and you never did. You've had all the chances you'll ever get or deserve."

Sensing that her wrath had passed, Root and Foaly released her arms. Captain Short turned and walked away, turning the corner out of sight. Kobalde watched her go with a sinking heart, before being bustled into a waiting van.

Holly was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. Literally. She concentrated on the open doors of the medic station, determined to make it. She very nearly did.

*****

*pant* Finally finished. Blood out of a stone, that was. As you can probably tell. I also thought, for the sake of tradition, I'd have one minor cliffy leaving you hanging on for the epilogue. *snigger*

A few quick notes on cannon-ness: I am fully aware that some of the stuff didn't fully gel. For example, the car park thing, but I didn't have strength to think up a whole new invention. And the OOCness… ack, it's where the story had to go. *looks pitiful* I'm sorry.

Righty ho then, review my sweet angels of insanity, review!!! Ah yes, and there is something else that is **very important** so listen up. There is an alternative ending to chapter 5, that I wrote when I got a little carried away. Actually hilariously funny. So if you want it, tell me in a review/email me at flyingpurpletreefrog@hotmail.com, and I'll send it to ya! *cheesy grin*

Oh yeah, one last thing. When I post the epilogue, I'm also going to re-post the first ten chapters or so. It's just I was reading them again, and I realised how very many spelling mistakes there were. Nothing will be majorly rewritten, just be improved slightly. I've already started writing the epilogue, so as that will be a lot shorter than the chapters are, and is already about a third done, I will hopefully get it up reasonably soon. My soon though. *blushes* so who knows…

Luv slime xxx


	18. Epilogue

**__**

A/N: See! SEE! I told you I would be quick! Only a week, and it's up. *proud grin*

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TO MY REVIEWERS: *wipes away tear* I'm really gonna miss you guys, you know. Thanks a huge amount to **Ladeda, flamaria13, morningstar, SilverButterfly, Spasmodic dust bunny, Maiden Genisis, Tie Kerl, Dragoness Fighter, Trixi, allie, becca8** (did I send you the alternative ending? I don't remember getting your review alert, so possibly I didn't… if I didn't, please tell me in the next review and I'll send it immediately! :D), **MyOwnAntagonist, TheSpaminator** (I know… I did. Did you know, that in a year, you're the first one to mention that? I will include it in the final disclaimer and the first) and **JustME.** I love you all so so much.

****

SECOND A/N: This chapter is dedicated to all the people who have ever reviewed and have been amazingly wonderful over the past year. I love you all very much. It is also dedicated to my two darling betas Mei Leng (who does the actual betaing) and The Oracle (who just tells me off for writing 'such good chapters' *snort* Whatever.) Also thanks to my friend Lucy, 'cos although she didn't edit or contribute helpful suggestions in any regular way, she read the chapters. And I know she'll be reading this later. *waves* hiya Lucifer. Have you done any more art in the last thirty seconds???

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Enjoy this last ever instalment of the story.

*****

Fragments of conversation drifted slowly through to Captain Short's senses as she began to regain consciousness. She focused her strength on hearing what the people above her were saying. Finally, the buzz separated into words.

" – Pure exhaustion, primarily, though the extreme emotional, mental and physical stress were definitely direct contributors. She needs to rest for a while. I wouldn't be comfortable with her working again for at least a day or two."

"Understood." Holly recognised the gruff tones of her commander. "How long until she makes a full recovery?"

The other fairy hesitated. "It's hard to say. Cuts, bruises and… bullet holes will heal in about four hours, depending on her reaction to the magic. But mental scarring may take much longer, months, maybe years. I would recommend a course of therapy."

Holly had had enough. Collecting all her strength, she forced herself to sit up. Immediately two pairs of hands steadied her. After catching her breath, she managed to open her eyes. Sure enough, one pair of hands belonged to Commander Root. The other belonged to the medic she had met earlier. 

The pixie grinned. "Morning, moonshine. Sleep well?"

Holly groaned. Cocky pixies were the last thing she needed. "What in Frond's name happened?"

The medic turned away, hands moving over the worktop bolted to the side of the van. "You passed out. That splitting headache that's about to hit around…" He glanced at her, and saw her suddenly clutch her head. "… now, is a side affect." He turned back to face them, hypodermic needle balanced in his fingers. "This will immediately combat it. I would give you painkillers in a pill, but I need you out of here quicker than that. Just hold still."

Holly winced and looked away as the needle pressed into her skin. She hadn't been terribly fond of them since Fowl had used one to knock her out a year ago. She resisted the urge to scratch the area. "Why couldn't you have just used magic?"

"I don't want to use any more magic on you than is necessary. You could have a bad reaction to it. We've already had to drain the power you gained during the freezer incident."

Holly could actually feel the drugs moving through her, causing a numbing sensation as they went. "You didn't have to give me enough to knock out a troll." she muttered groggily.

The pixie squirted a spray of fine, clear liquid out of the end of another needle. "That's what this is for." he said, grinning.

Holly glared at him. "Next time I'll take the pills."

Seeing that she would be fine, Root patted her on the shoulder and made his way out of the van. As the doors began to close, he turned.

"Don't leave until I come back. There are a few things I need to take care of before I can debrief you."

Registering her nod, he left. Holly suddenly noticed the material draped over her shoulders.

"What's the take-away wrapper for?"

The medic didn't even turn. "To keep your temperature constant. We're not taking any risks, not after your brief but fatal brush with hypothermia. You need to keep that on until you get home. Make yourself a hot drink and go straight to bed. Don't take a shower or a bath until tomorrow morning, or you run the risk of passing out again." Holly nodded meekly. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to ask you some questions."

"Fine, whatever. Can I go after that?"

"Yes, if I'm happy with your answers." He expertly gripped her eyelid with his finger and thumb, shining a light directly into her eye. Holly winced as best she could and blinked the other eye furiously. Finally the light was turned off. "Pupils react to light. Good. Now then, can you tell me your name and rank?"

"Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit."

"How old are you?"

"Eighty."

"Where do you live?"

"Haven City."

"What's my name?"

Holly gritted her teeth. "I don't know. You didn't tell me."

The pixie smirked. "Trick question. Alright, your memory seems to be fine." He handed her a small packet of medication. "Take two of these as soon as you get home, and two more when you wake up. After that, take them every six hours during the day, every twelve at night. They'll help regulate your temperate and keep off fever and infection in your lungs. Before you start working again, I want you to book a physical and get checked out." He grasped her by the shoulders. "You have to rest. Take a couple of days off work. You really don't need any more stress for a little while. Got that?" Holly nodded. "Good. Now get out of here."

Captain Short was only too happy to comply. She hopped down from the van to find Trouble Kelp waiting for her. She smiled bitterly, remembering how much trouble she was in. She sighed. "You've come to tell me I'm suspended, haven't you."

She sank down onto the lip of the van. Trouble looked at her, puzzlement in his eyes.

"What?" he said. "Where did you get that from."

Holly shook her head. "Don't play games, Kelp. The Council have been looking for an excuse to kick me out since day one. Do you really think they'd pass up this opportunity?"

He sat down next to her. "Is that what you honestly believe? That a few stupid, irrelevant memories are going to lose us our best shuttle pilot, one of our top Recon officers and an example to us all?" He chuckled gently. "You must have suffered brain damage after all."

Holly stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean? I had a personal relationship with the perp. I couldn't control my emotions during a mission. I put the lives all the officers and myself in danger." She looked away. "The Council, in case you've forgotten, is primarily made up of sexist, chauvinistic pigs. Don't pretend they wouldn't see what happened tonight as a sign of weakness."

"You are joking, aren't you?" The look on the other captain's face told him otherwise. "D'Arvit, Short, no-one thinks how you reacted was a sign of weakness! You did what any of the rest of us would have done, but you handled it a d'arv sight better than we would have. And the memories…" She grimaced. "They just proved how loyal you were to your friend, how you overcame an overwhelming situation. Kobalde was wrong. All they proved were your dedication. And I for one respect you for that."

Holly stared determinedly at her hands. "Really?"

Trouble rolled his eyes. "Would I lie to you?" Holly gave him a look. "Alright, but would I lie to you about something like this?"

She was silent for a moment. Finally, she spoke. "Thanks, Trouble. I needed to hear that."

He slung a reassuring arm over her shoulder. "It's nothing. There's no use you moping. The retrieval boys need you back as soon as possible so they can have someone to lust over. I find their work sloppy when there isn't a desirable female around."

Holly glanced sharply at him. He winked. "Just kidding, Short."

Captain Short thumped him on the shoulder rather harder than was necessary. Trouble returned the favour, before the pair burst out laughing. When the gales of hilarity subsided, Captain Kelp got up to leave.

"I'll see you at HQ. Make sure you get Beetroot to give you time off. You deserve at least a week."

"Last time I looked, Kelp, you weren't in a position to start handing out leave."

Trouble swallowed. "Commander Root, sir." He turned to face the deceptively calm face of his regional commander. "I, er, didn't realise – "

"– I was standing right behind you?" He shot a look at Holly. "Captain Short did."

Holly snorted, before regaining control once more. "Sorry, sir. I think it's the painkillers."

"Yeah, of course it is. Kelp, you're dismissed." He turned to Holly. "You're not so lucky. There's some stuff we need to discus. Foaly?"

The centaur stepped out from behind him. His face was serious. "It's about Kobalde." Holly quickly looked at the ground. "He's going to plead insanity. He's got a strong case." He paused, and she knew what was coming before he said it. "You'll be called on to testify at his trial. His lawyer will be trying to prove split-personality."

Captain Short nodded mutely, still hiding her face. "I just thought you'd want to know sooner rather than later, and from us rather than some jumped-up attorney with more money than brains."

Root crouched in front of her, bringing himself down to her level. "Are you OK?"

Holly sighed, forcing a smile. "Yeah. That sadist just better know what's coming to him." She paused for a second. "Are his powers really gone then?"

"That was the other thing I wanted to talk about." Foaly cut in. "That little stunt you pulled in your head… I don't think you realised just how dangerous that was. If he'd got to you first…"

Holly nodded. "I guessed along those lines. I knew it was me in there, I just wasn't sure it was him. He seemed… different. Not in the way he acted, in the way he _felt_…" She stopped. "I know it sounds odd, but – "

"It's typical of mind-torture victims. They don't see their tormentor as the whole person they are in the real world, but whatever mental personality they manifest themselves as. You took a big gamble. He could easily have killed you. The body can't live without the soul."

Captain Short waved the statement away. "He would have killed me anyway. I had the chance to die for a reason. Much better than just being entertainment."

Root nodded, but Foaly looked puzzled. Evidently he didn't understand the selfless ability to make the ultimate sacrifice that resided in most LEP recon officers.

"Anyway, his mind powers have been disabled for the time being at least. What you shot wasn't his soul, but a projection of his power, most of it from the effect it had on him, and the amount he had to use on you. By the time he gets them back, if he does, we'll have implanted a barrier in his head to stop him using them. He won't ever do that to anyone again."

Captain Short smiled bitterly. "Good to know. Now, what happened to that debriefing? I can hear my pillow calling to me."

Commander Root grinned. "I'm ordering you to take three days of leave, and before I will allow you to start work again you need a full medical." Holly opened her mouth to protest. "A _full_ one, Captain. You're overdue as it is."

She sighed. "Yes sir. Was there anything else?"

Root shook his head. "Dismissed. Rest, Holly. You can't be fighting the bad guys all the time."

A genuine grin curved her lips. "Just one more thing, Commander." She turned to face him. "Please don't ever try to make me wear a dress again. I think we've all seen the disastrous consequences." And with that she turned and left, flashing her site pass at the sprite on duty as she went. Root and Foaly watched her go. Both strongly suspected she would be absolutely fine.

*****

*sigh* Well, my friends that is indeed it. Strictly Ballroom, after over a year of writing it, has finally come to an end. I hope you've all enjoyed it, and liked that last chapter.

On the issue of sequels: I do not plan now or at a later time to do a sequel to this. I have completely run dry of all Holly/Basil ideas, situations and conflicts. I could maybe one day, if I was extremely bored, had nothing else to do, was feeling extremely creative and had the sudden urge to revisit this fic I suppose I could write the trial, but to be honest, I won't. But hey, if anyone else wants to, go ahead.

On the subject of reuploaded chapters: I have reuploaded all the chapters, all bloody 17 of them. It took forever to read through them all. I basically just went through correcting spellings and rewrote a few sentences and phrases. However, there was one tiny plot hole I filled that occurred in chapter something or other, where Root and Foaly find Holly's hair thing in the swimming pool and Root gets his vision… I didn't say at the time that he got it because of magical residues that were left behind. I was gonna put it in later but the opportunity didn't come up… So that's now been written in.

On the subject of future stories: I have hundreds of ideas buzzing round my head, all crying (very loudly) to be turned into fics. I shall now summarise the ones that have taken shape as individual (or at least potential individual) ones. 

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The Seven Deadly Sins of Holly Short

A smallish fic I'm planning with a pretty predictable plot, looking at the title. Holly gets cursed with a 'Seven Sins' curse that means that for 7 days, she'll be visited by each of the sins. Needless to say, chaos ensues. It will have a prologue (which I have actually written) 7 chapters (one for each sin) and an epilogue. Nice and simple really.

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Science

My next big SB type length fic. Ever since Artemis Fowl met the fairies, he's always been careful to hide all traces of their existence. But before he met Holly… before he met Holly he let one slip away. And now that could prove fatal for her… The idea actually grew from a small bit in Songquest, and as it snowballed along, drew inspiration from Dr. Franklin's Island. Just to give you an idea.

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Creature of the Night

A smallish ficcy (may turn out to be longer… who knows) about a side of Holly that isn't explored enough in this section. The dark side. The screwed up side. The side that's not in control. 

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Another unnamed one

I had an idea for a very short tiny few paragraph vinaigrette about an issue explored in Blue Yeti's 'Death'. Go read. 'Tis wonderful.

So, time will tell what will actually be posted and when. Oh yes, and one more thing…

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Madness on Broomsticks

A joint fic I'm writing with my author and real life friend The Oracle. A HP/AF crossover. Assorted characters gather to play quidditch. Basically AF whipping HP's butts. But we started about six months ago, and haven't written for at least three. Add to that I managed to password protect my early copy and then forget the password, the disc I had the most up-to-date version on somehow got whiped and The Oracle doesn't have huge amounts of the story on her comp… it may be a while yet. But twill be funny. Oh so very funny.

Ok then. I think I have babbled quite enough for one story. Let me just finished by saying I love you all so very much and am so very grateful for all your support. I LOVE YOU ALL! And now, all that remains is the final disclaimer.

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Holly Short, Commander Root or any other related characters/indica to Artemis Fowl. I do own Basil Kobalde, Carmen Geum, the All-Seeing-Eye, Eazy Grow, various goblins and a few techie inventions. I also, as I was reminded by TheSpaminator, do not own the title 'Strictly Ballroom' as it comes from a film I know basically nothing about. Well, the only other title I could think of was 'House of a thousand rooms' so I think I probably made the right decision. Ah well.

I love you so very much, my darlings, and I would love you even more if you reviewed!!! Bring that count up to 250!

Luv slime xxxxx

P.S: POWER TO THE MUSHROOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT!!!!


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